The Surgeon or the Punk?
by Audra Markwell
Summary: When someone from Adam's past comes back into his life, Adam's relationhip with Lawrence is threatened. Rated M for slash and profanity. UPDATES! Finally, for all of you devoted chainshippers, I deliver you a nice, fat update! Enjoy!
1. Hello, Again

Adam made his way down the dark hallway.

He couldn't see a thing, not even his own hand in front of his face.

He had no flashlight.

He had no idea where he was, period. All he knew was that his mind was telling him to keep going forward.

There was no reason to be afraid. His rock, his reason for living, was nearby, he could tell.

Walking like a blind man, with his hands groping along the wall to his right, he suddenly felt something.

A door.

A big one.

Adam groped for the handle. There was none. As soon as he realized this, the door seemed to slide open, on its own.

Feeling around for a light switch, he found one. He flicked it up. The room flooded with light, briefly blinding him.

It took two seconds for Adam to realize where he was. In a bathroom.

Not just any bathroom. _The _bathroom.

He heard a moan come from across the room. Adam, still recovering from his temporary blindness, looked towards the sound.

A blonde man, apparently half-conscious, sat on the filthy floor, drenched in blood from a bullet wound to his shoulder. His foot was manacled to a pipe. The man was sickly-looking. It seemed as though he'd been there for days.

Adam quickly darted over to Lawrence. How in the hell had he gotten here?

His brown eyes wide with concern, Adam knelt by Lawrence and gently touched his face. Larry's head lolled to one side.

"Oh, my God," Adam said. He gently took his love's head in his arms. Sitting down, Adam let Lawrence's head rest against his chest. Adam cradled him, stroking Larry's dirty blonde hair. "Lawrence?"

Lawrence groaned again, his voice hoarse. "Adam…."

Adam didn't know what to do. Was Lawrence dying? He'd die, too, if that happened.

"_Hello, Adam"_.

Adam jumped, looking up at the doorway. There stood Jigsaw.

The dying old man made his way over to Adam. Jigsaw knelt in front of Adam and looked into his eyes.

"Adam, Dr. Gordon is dying," he said. "You're the cause. You're sucking the life out of him, with your grasping, your helplessness, your petty weaknesses. You don't deserve him, you realize this?"

Biting his lip, tears sprang to Adam's eyes as he nodded. He knew it was true. He deserved no happiness, let alone deserved Lawrence. He never would.

"Lawrence deserves to be with his family. He cherishes them. You saw this." Jigsaw went on. "You took him from them. You robbed him and his family of happiness."

Adam began to cry. He'd never thought of it that way, but he knew the old man was right.

"Then you know what must be done."

Jigsaw stood up and went to door. He looked back at Adam.

"You know what must be done," he repeated. With strength that Adam would never guessed he had, Jigsaw slammed the door shut, leaving Adam alone with his impending misery, as he had done once before.

Adam looked down at Lawrence, and saw that his face was deathly white. With a sob, Adam kissed him on the forehead and gently set him down.

Color slowly returned to Lawrence's face. His blue eyes flickered open and focused on Adam. He sneered and slowly sat up. Adam, looking shocked and miserable, watched as Lawrence climbed to his feet. He made no move to go after Larry as he walked to the door. He simply watched as Lawrence stopped at the door and looked back at his young lover.

"Adam, you are nothing," Larry sneered. "You always have been and always will be. I never loved you. I only put up with you."

Adam closed his eyes, the blow of Lawrence's words the equivalent of physical pain.

"I should have left you to die," Lawrence continued. "I couldn't; that foolish promise made sure of that.

"I can now. Game over."

The light flickered off. The heavy metal door slammed shut.

"**NOOOOO!!**"


	2. Comfort

Adam awoke with a start.

He sat up in bed, panting, drenched in sweat.

He couldn't breathe. He began to wheeze. His asthma was coming on. He'd had asthma as a kid, but in Adam's adulthood, it only came in times of extreme stress.

"Adam?"

Adam's abrupt movement had roused Larry from sleep. Adam felt a gentle hand on the small of his bare back.

"Are you OK?"

Adam shook his head, in answer as well as trying to erase Dream Lawrence's sneer from his mind.

Adam heard the mattress creak as Larry got out of bed. As Adam struggled to breathe, Lawrence came around to his side of the bed. Lawrence gently guided Adam to the edge of the bed and gave him his inhaler. As Adam gratefully puffed on it, Lawrence sat down next to him and put an arm around him.

Soon, Adam began to breathe normally again, Lawrence's embrace having more of an effect than the medicine.

"So, are you gonna tell me what happened?" Lawrence gently prodded.

"I'm fine, Larry," Adam insisted. "Just an attack."

"Adam, I'm not deaf," Lawrence said. "I heard you scream in your sleep. Was it another dream?" Both of them had been having nightmares about Jigsaw's "game" ever since they'd escaped, but Lawrence felt Adam had more right to his. He'd suffered much more mental anguish than Lawrence had.

"Kinda," Adam said.

Without saying anything else, Adam stood up and shakily walked to the bathroom. He looked into the mirror and saw that he was as deathly pale as Lawrence was in the dream. He splashed water on his face and gulped down some water.

He turned around to go back to the room and realized that Larry had followed him into the bathroom. A blanket was wrapped around him.

"Come here," Larry said.

He drew Adam close to him and wrapped the blanket around both of them. Adam immediately felt better. He leaned his head against Lawrence's shoulder and felt his lover's arms wrap around him. Lawrence, smiling, pressed a kiss to the top of Adam's head.

There was nothing a hug and kiss from Lawrence Gordon couldn't cure.

Together they walked back to bed. They lay down on the bed, and Lawrence pulled another blanket over the two of them. Adam settled more comfortably into Lawrence's arms. Lawrence stroked Adam's hair.

"Now, you gonna tell me what happened?" Lawrence asked.

"I was in the Bathroom," Adam started. "You know, _the_ Bathroom."

Lawrence nodded. How could he forget that incident?

"Well, Jigsaw came and…said you were dead," Adam said slowly. "He said that you could live if I…let you go. You left me in there….."

Adam couldn't go on. He felt Lawrence's arms tighten around him and felt himself being laid back on the bed. Lawrence lay on top of him and looked into his eyes.

"Adam…..I will never ever leave you," Lawrence said softly. "Nothing can tear us apart….right?"

"Right," Adam said, smiling. There was a nagging doubt in the back of his mind, but his current physical position, lying under Lawrence's warm body, drove it out of his mind.

"I will never leave you," Lawrence said. He kissed Adam softly. "I promise."

Adam felt reassured, just a little. Lawrence usually made good on his promises.

Adam lightly traced his fingers along Lawrence's backside. Lawrence kissed him again, his tongue gently massaging Adam's. Lawrence broke away from the kiss and began to kiss Adam's throat, onto his chest, lightly tracing the sensitive spots. Adam sighed and felt Lawrence's hand slide under his boxers, gently gripping him. With a mischievous grin, Lawrence then ducked under the covers. Adam felt his boxers being removed completely and felt Lawrence's mouth on yet another sensitive area. It wasn't too long before Adam felt a tingling stab of heat, and felt more than the nightmare exit him.

Soon after, Adam fell asleep, his head on Lawrence's chest.


	3. Rebel

The next morning, Lawrence woke up to find Adam snuggled up against him.

As always.

Lawrence smiled. This was the one thing that always got him through the day.

Lawrence looked at the clock.

6 a.m. Lawrence would have to haul ass if he wanted to get to the hospital on time.

_Aw, fuck_, Lawrence thought. He pressed his lips against Adam's forward, and then kissed him on the lips.

Adam's eyes fluttered open. He smiled at Larry.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," Lawrence smiled.

"What time is it?"

"About six," Lawrence said. "I gotta get to work."

"You can't stay here today?" Adam asked.

"You know I'd love to," Lawrence said, never meaning it more. "But, duty calls."

He gave Adam a warm kiss, gave him a tiny hug, and got out of bed. He went to the bathroom and turned on the shower.

"Hey, Lawrence?" Adam asked.

"Hmm?"

"Thanks….for last night," Adam said. "You know…."

Lawrence stepped into the room and went over to Adam.

"I aim to please," he said, looking into Adam's eyes. He gave him another kiss and then went to shower.

"Dr. Gordon, where have you been?"

Resident medical student Carla came rushing over to Lawrence as he came into the staff lounge.

"At home," Lawrence said, with a touch of the old arrogance to his voice. "Why?" Carla had been one of the women he had been with, back when he was married to Allison. Even though he was with Adam now, he still regretted ever being with women other than his wife.

"We've got an emergency here," Carla went on.

Lawrence quickly followed her into the E.R.

The patient lay on a gurney. She was a Goth chick, with black hair streaked with purple, pale skin, black lipstick. She wore black everything: black blouse, black skirt, black tights, black boots. Lawrence could tell how pale she was even under all the pale make-up she wore.

"Her name is Violet Miller, Doctor," said the paramedic who had brought her in. "She's twenty-eight years old. Her boyfriend called 911 after she fainted."

"En route diagnosis?" Lawrence asked.

"Malnutrition. She was unconscious when we reached her boyfriend's apartment. We've stabilized her."

"Anorexic?"

"Her boyfriend wouldn't say. Could it be maybe a fasting gone wrong?" the paramedic asked.

"Possibly. We'll do what we can and put her in a room. We'll know more when she wakes up."

Later, Lawrence stood over Violet Miller as she began to wake up.

"Miss Miller?" Lawrence asked, a clipboard in his hands.

"Where am I?" she asked groggily.

"In the hospital. You were brought in this morning. I'm Dr. Gordon."

"What time is it?"

"It's about three o' clock. Miss Miller, I'd like to ask you some questions, OK?"

"All right."

"Full name?"

"Violetta Antoinette."

Lawrence stared. What mom would give her kid that middle name? "You mean Violet Antoinette?"

"Nobody calls me Violet. My name's Violetta."

"All right, fine," Lawrence rolled his eyes. "Date of birth?"

"April 26th, 1979,"

"Parents' names?"

"My parents are dead. Does that really matter?"

"I'm sorry," said Lawrence, flustered. "Anyway, Miss Miller, you were brought in this morning with severe malnutrition. Could you tell me why?"  
"You're the doctor, asshole," Violetta said.

"What are your eating habits?"

"Well, according to you, I don't eat."

"Miss Miller, I never said that. Are you a vegetarian?"

"You could say that," she said. "Get the fuck out. I'm tired."

She turned away from him and closed her eyes. Lawrence sighed. There was nothing like an uncooperative patient. "All right," he said. "We'll continue this tomorrow."

"Not fucking likely," she mumbled.


	4. Domestic

When Lawrence got home at around six, he found the apartment seemingly empty.

"Adam?" he called.

"Back here, Lare," Adam's voice called back. "In the darkroom."

Lawrence made his way towards the back of the apartment. Since being rescued from the bathroom, Adam had managed to secure a job for a newspaper. He had said that he wanted a real job, especially since Lawrence was gone most of the day. It wasn't the most exciting job, but at least it paid.

When Lawrence came into the darkroom, he found Adam hanging up the developing pictures. Adam looked up and smiled at his lover.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," Lawrence said. He went over to Adam, put his arms around his waist, and kissed his temple. "What're those?"

"Some shots I took today," Adam said. "Some thing was happening in town today. It was kinda dull, actually."

Lawrence sat down and watched as Adam took newly developed shots down and hung up developing ones. He loved watching Adam work. Not only because it was Adam, but because he loved the process of film developing.

Suddenly, he thought of his daughter. There were tons of shots of Diana in his wallet.

He missed her lately. He didn't get to see as much of her as he would've liked. He'd been busy lately, not to mention she and her mother lived across town.

When Lawrence had divorced Allison and moved in with Adam, Diana had been surprisingly open-minded about it. The fact that Daddy loved another man hadn't bothered her as much as he feared.

She liked Adam. Adam was great with her. He had become something of an uncle to her.

Allison, on the other hand, had been different. Lawrence supposed that was to be expected. Hers and Diana's kidnapping had been bad enough for her to deal with. That, combined with their pre-Jigsaw marital problems and Lawrence's love for Adam, had been just too much for her to deal with. She and Lawrence had divorced shortly after Lawrence and Adam's first night together.

Ally was not a woman to hold grudges. But, every time she and Lawrence talked over the phone, she never missed a chance to express her disgust towards his relationship with Adam.

Lawrence felt it wasn't too much of a loss. Ally had never liked Adam.

"Lawrence?"

"Hmm?" Adam's voice broke into his thoughts.

"I asked how your day was," Adam said patiently. "I don't mean to sound like a doting wife or anything…"

"Same old, same old," Lawrence shrugged. "Patients came in, went out. The usual."

"Oh," Adam said. He looked up at the pictures. "I'm starving. I didn't eat dinner."

He left the room, clicking off the light and shutting the door as he went, leaving Lawrence in total darkness.

"Very funny," came Lawrence's half-amused, half-annoyed voice.

"I try," Adam called back, chuckling.

Fifteen minutes later, Adam sat on the counter eating leftover pasta. Lawrence stood at the sink, waiting for his own plate to come out of the microwave.

"So," Adam said through a mouthful of pasta. "Any interesting patients today? Hot girls, for instance?" He smiled at Larry to show he was teasing.

"Well, there was one girl," Larry said, thinking of the patient who'd given him a hard time that day. "I don't know if you'd call her hot, though. Punk girl. A complete bitch."

"What was wrong with her?"

"Malnutrition," Larry said. "We don't know what brought it on. We'll know more tomorrow."

Adam frowned, his brow furrowed.

"What's her name?"

"Can't tell you that," Lawrence said. "Doctor-patient confidentiality."

"Damn," Adam said.

"Why? Someone you know?"

"Maybe," Adam said. "Did she have black hair, maybe pink or purple streaks in it? A pale face? Black clothes?"

"Yeah," Lawrence said, surprised. "That's right on. How'd you know?"

"Violetta," Adam said.

"Huh?" Lawrence asked. "You know her?" He doubted this. When they met, Adam had been such a loner. He still was, now that Larry thought about it.

"Hell, yeah, I know her!" Adam said. "She's my ex-girlfriend. I told you about her!"

"You did?"

"Yeah," Adam said. "The feminist vegan? Remember?"

Lawrence scanned his memory, trying to recall when Adam had mentioned an ex-girlfriend. Nothing came up.

All of a sudden, a memory hit him. Briefly, Lawrence was brought back to the dreaded bathroom.

"_What else aren't you telling me?"_

"_I didn't tell you that my last girlfriend was a feminist vegan punk who broke up with me because she thought __**I**__was too angry."_

Lawrence made a face of comprehension.

"She's a vegan? Well, that would explain why she was malnourished. Vegans don't get the nutrients that normal vegetarians or people who eat meat usually do."

"She'll be all right?"

"Yeah, she'll be fine," Lawrence said. "She just needs to eat differently from now on."

"Man, I can't believe this," Adam said, shaking his head. "I haven't heard from Vi in months."

"Months?" Lawrence said, looking up. "You talked to her recently?"

"Well, not exactly," Adam said. "After we were rescued, she kept calling…and calling…and calling. I never picked up. Left me a ton of messages."

"What'd she want?"

"Can't tell you that," Adam said. "Ex-boyfriend-girlfriend confidentiality."

Lawrence gave him a small smile.

"She wanted to get back together with me."

"Really?" Lawrence said, pouting. "You said no?"

"Well, yeah," Adam said. "I was head over heels in love with you."

Adam went over Lawrence, puts his arms around Larry's waist, and looked up into his blue eyes.

"As a matter of fact," Adam whispered. "I still am."

Gently pulling Lawrence towards him, Adam kissed him, running his fingers through Larry's blonde hair. They broke apart and looked into each other's eyes.

"I know the feeling," Lawrence said.

Lawrence put a hand to Adam's cheek, leaned down, and kissed him, more passionately.

Suddenly, Lawrence felt Adam wrinkle his nose. Adam pulled out of the kiss.

"Do you smell something burning?" he asked.

They looked towards the microwave. Smoke was seeping out of it.

"Shit!" Lawrence cried. He went over to the microwave and pulled the door open. More smoke poured out.

"Aw, crap," Larry said. Waving the smoke away, Lawrence pulled out the plate, or what was left of it: the hot pasta had burned a hole right through the paper plate it was on.

"Looks tasty," Adam said, laughing.

Lawrence smiled and shook his head.

He loved hearing his lover laugh.

It didn't happen often.


	5. Settled Nerves

Later, Adam climbed into bed. Lawrence was in the bathroom, brushing his teeth.

Stretching out on the bed, Adam let his mind drift back to happy memories.

There weren't many.

Adam focused on his favorite: the first time he and Lawrence had made love. It still stood crystal clear in Adam's mind.

It was about three months previously, about a month or two after they had been rescued.

Adam was still living in the apartment he called his "shithole apartment".

Lawrence was still married to Allison.

Adam and Lawrence had never been alone together; the sexual desire between them had been too strong.

Larry had come by after a nasty fight with Ally. He said he needed to calm down.

It only took one look for them to get into a passionate kiss. The kiss had turned into sweaty skin, damp hair, and pleasured moans.

Most importantly, it turned into three little words Adam had never said to any girl, let alone another guy.

Lawrence had reciprocated the words, much to Adam's relief and happiness.

Twenty-four hours later, Lawrence and Adam were together again, this time free to enjoy each other. Lawrence had decided to break it off with his wife.

Since then, every time they were together had gotten steadily more passionate.

Adam smiled.

Suddenly, Adam thought of his parents. He hadn't seen them for years. He had called his mom after being rescued, but didn't go into details about what had happened.

That wasn't a phone thing. It was a face-to-face thing.

Even though Adam spoke to his parents regularly, a result of Jigsaw's game, he never told his parents about Lawrence. He wasn't quite sure how they would react, but he had an idea. His parents were not open-minded people, his father especially.

Besides, he wasn't ready to share Lawrence with anyone else.

Lawrence was all his.

Just then, Lawrence came to bed and lay down next to Adam. Smiling at him, Adam pulled him into a passionate kiss. The passion increased, and Adam repositioned himself so that he was lying on top of Lawrence. Grinning, Lawrence pulled out of the kiss and looked up at Adam.

"What's up?" Lawrence asked.

"What?" Adam asked innocently. "I just like you is all."

Adam felt Lawrence's hand brush against his crotch. "I can tell," he said with a chuckle.

Adam rested his head on Lawrence's chest. Lawrence put his arms around him.

"Lare?"

"Hmm?"

"Have you told anyone…about us?"

He looked up at Lawrence and saw that he was frowning.

"Why?"

"No reason," Adam said. He lay back down. "Just curious."

"Well, no," Lawrence said, tracing his fingers lightly over Adam's bare skin. "The only people who know about us are Allison and Diana, although I know Diana doesn't really understand it."

"What about the people at work?"

"As far as they know, we're roommates," Lawrence said. "Roommates and nothing more. Why? Adam, what're you getting at?"

"Well," Adam began. "My parents…I haven't really talked to them in awhile."

"What do you mean? You talk to them all the time."

"Yeah," Adam agreed. "But not about anything new in my life. Mom calls to check up, but we don't really talk. I told them about…you know…after we were rescued, but not in depth. That five minute conversation was the longest we've had since I left home."

"I take it you want a little parent-son time."

"Not exactly," Adam said. "I just want to know for sure what they'd think of the whole incident. And you."

"Adam, if you want to tell them about us, go ahead," Lawrence said. "It's up to you."

Adam frowned. He thought of his desire of wanting to keep Lawrence to himself for awhile. He still wanted this, but a part of him wanted to share his love for Lawrence with the world.

A plan began forming in his head: He could tell his parents about Jigsaw and his "game", and then carefully tell them about Lawrence. The news of their son almost dying might soften the blow of them discovering that their only son was in love with another man.

Suddenly, his parents accepting his relationship with Lawrence seemed possible. They wouldn't be in love with the idea, but might just be happy for him.

"I'll do it," Adam said. "I'm gonna tell them. I can drive out to them this weekend."

"That sounds doable," Lawrence said.

The reality of Adam's plan hit him suddenly. He felt nervous. He snuggled against Lawrence, and felt Larry's arms tighten around him.

"Why can't we tell your parents first?" Adam asked.

"My parents are dead," Lawrence said.

"Lucky," Adam said, grinning. Lawrence returned the smile. He didn't feel offended; he knew what Adam meant.

"Now…where were we?" Lawrence asked with a seductive grin.

"I think right about here," Adam replied. He put his body level with Lawrence and kissed him, his tongue licking across his bottom lip. He broke away from the kiss, relishing the taste of Lawrence on his mouth. Straddling Lawrence, Adam kissed his face and neck, running his tongue delicately over Lawrence's skin.

Larry closed his eyes and shivered, goosebumps forming all over his body. He opened his eyes and looked into his lover's.

Sexy, oh-so-desirable Adam. The young man who brought out the wild, more impulsive side of Lawrence. The young man with whom Lawrence shared a type of connection that he had never shared with Allison. The young man that could make Lawrence forget about the pain both of them had endured.

The young man he loved with a fiery passion.

With a moan of longing, Lawrence reached up, gently grabbed Adam around the neck, and gave him a deep kiss. Returning the kiss, Adam pulled his shirt over his head, and then Lawrence's. Lawrence sat up and began kissing Adam's throat. Closing his eyes, Adam ran his hands over Lawrence and embraced him.

"Lawrence…" Adam moaned. "I want you…"

Lawrence laid Adam back down on the bed. He kissed up Adam's throat and onto his face. Passionately kissing Adam on the mouth, Lawrence put his hand down the front of Adam's boxers and gently gripped his erection. Adam's eyes fluttered with pleasure and he began to breathe heavily as Lawrence moved his hand up and down. Leaning down, Lawrence gave Adam another kiss on the mouth. Adam reached up a hand and put it behind Larry's head, putting more passion into the kiss.

Lawrence leaned down and put his mouth on Adam, massaging the sensitive area with his tongue. Adam's pleasured moans intensified, and he ran his hands through Larry's blonde hair. Taking his mouth off of Adam, he pulled off Adam's boxers and kissed back up Adam's stomach and onto his chest.

"Lawrence…" Adam moaned.

"Yes?" Lawrence asked, smiling.

"Isn't it my turn?" Adam asked, grinning.

With a violent passion, Adam shoved Lawrence onto his back, ducked down, and pulled off Lawrence's boxers. Adam put his mouth on Lawrence and ran his hand along Lawrence's bare thigh. Adam grinned to himself as Larry began to moan in pleasure.

Lawrence reached down and pulled Adam up to him so that they were eye-level to each other. Catching his mouth in a deep kiss, Lawrence ran his hands along Adam's back as Adam continued to massage Lawrence's erection.

Adam felt himself being settled back on the bed. Lawrence reached into the nightstand drawer and pulled out a condom. After putting it on, Lawrence nudged Adam's legs open and gently entered him.

Adam felt no pain. They had done this so often, he had long since gotten used to the feeling.

Lawrence gently pulled in and out as he tended Adam's erection. Soon, the room was filled with their combined moans of pleasure and their ragged breathing.

Through his pleasure, Adam thrilled, as he always did, at the feeling of warm, sweaty skin against his own.

Lawrence caught Adam's mouth in a passionate kiss. His tongue massaged Adam's. Adam ran his fingers through Larry's hair.

Suddenly, Lawrence hit the one place inside of Adam that always sent the younger man into a spiral of ecstasy. Adam hit climax, spilling himself over Lawrence's hand. Lawrence soon followed, a wonderful orgasm coursing through his lower body. He felt himself explode inside of Adam.

Panting, Lawrence collapsed on top of Adam, their lips resting against one another. A pleasant aftershock coursed through their bodies as they caught their breath.

Lawrence rested his head on Adam's sweaty chest. Smiling contentedly, Adam pushed aside Larry's sweaty hair and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

It was awhile before either of them spoke.

"So…." Lawrence panted. "Still nervous about your parents?"

"I think I'll be fine," Adam said, running a hand along Lawrence's sweaty face.

Lawrence snuggled against Adam and shut his eyes. Exhausted, he fell asleep.

Adam smiled and watched his love sleep.

God, he loved Lawrence. He loved everything about him: his blue eyes, the way he kissed, his compassion for Adam. Lawrence was a fantastic doctor who made sure everyone he loved was warm, safe, and knew that he loved them.

He thought about what his parents would say when he admitted he was in a homosexual relationship. His dad certainly wouldn't be happy. Jim Faulkner had the worst case of homophobia Adam had ever seen. He'd likely disown Adam when he found out his own son was having sex with another man.

Adam realized that even if his parents did go as far as disowning him, it didn't really matter. Adam had Lawrence.

That was all that mattered. Larry was all he needed.

Hours later, Adam was jerked awake suddenly.

The phone was ringing.

Rubbing his eyes, he looked over at the clock.

It was two-thirty in the morning.

_Who the fuck's calling at this hour? _Adam thought, irritated. He lay back down and tried to ignore the phone. It could ring its head off.

Next to Adam, Lawrence stirred in his sleep. Adam smiled at him.

The sheets beneath Adam were rough and crusty from their previous act.

Adam put his arms around Lawrence's waist, and tried to get back to sleep

It was impossible

The phone kept on ringing.

"Goddammit," Adam muttered. He reluctantly pulled away from Lawrence, pushed the covers back and got out of bed, quietly slipping on his boxers.

"Adam?" Lawrence grunted, half-asleep. His eyes fluttered open and he focused them on Adam. "You OK? Another nightmare?"  
"No," Adam said, fibbing. He _had_ been back in the Bathroom in his dream, but it wasn't as vivid as his nightmares usually were. "The phone's being a bitch."

"Now?" Larry asked. He looked at the clock. "It's two in the morning."

"Tell me about it," Adam said, going to the door.

"Adam, leave it alone," Larry said. "Come back to bed."

"It could be Ally," Adam said, heading down the hall. "Y'never know."

He reached the kitchen. The phone kept ringing, sounding almost impatient. Groaning, Adam picked it up.

"Hello?" he asked sleepily.

"_Hello, Adam,"_ said the voice on the other line.

The voice from Adam and Lawrence's darkest nightmares.

A cold sweat broke over Adam, and he felt his throat tighten.


	6. Blast from the Past

"H-hello?" Adam squeaked, his voice unnaturally high.

He looked back towards the bedroom. Lawrence stood in the doorway, a blanket wrapped around him. He was frowning.

"What?" Lawrence mouthed.

"Adam? You OK?" said the voice on the other line.

It wasn't Jigsaw's voice. Adam felt color return to his face as he recognized the voice.

"Vi?" Adam asked. Although Lawrence looked relieved, his face fell slightly.

"Yeah, it's me," Violetta said. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Adam said, trying to catch his breath. Why the hell did he think Jigsaw was calling him? "Thought it was someone else. What's up?"

"Nothing,"

"You're calling me this late for nothing?"

"Whaddaya mean, Adam?" Vi asked. Adam could picture her making an innocent face. "You never used to care about a late-night chat."

"I do now," Adam said, a good amount of the old toughness in his voice.

"Sor-_ry_," Violetta snapped. "Didn't think it mattered."

"I'm gonna go now," Adam said, going to shut off the phone.

"No, please, Adam!" Violetta said. "I really am sorry. I'm just…I'm not feeling well. I went into the hospital today."

"Yeah, I heard,"

"How?"

"I know your doctor," Adam said.

_I know him very well,_ he thought. _We're sleeping together._

"Oh," Violetta said. "Well, anyway….do you think we could talk, you know, when you have the chance? Please?"

"I dunno," Adam said. Goddammit, Lawrence was waiting for him.

"Please?" Violetta repeated. "Could you maybe come by the hospital tomorrow? I really need a friend right now."

"Whatever, I'll try," Adam said. He hung up before Violetta could say anything else.

He went back to the bedroom. Lawrence was back in bed.

"You OK?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Adam said. "For one wild moment, I thought she was Jigsaw."

"I could tell," Lawrence. "I've never seen you look so pale."

Adam gave him a weary smile. Pulling off his boxers, he got into bed. Lawrence pulled the covers over them. Once Adam was settled, Lawrence slipped a gentle arm around his bare waist and pulled him close. Adam entwined his fingers into Larry's and gripped his hand. He smiled as he felt Lawrence snuggle against his backside.

"At least I found something out tonight," Adam said.

"What's that?"

"I found out what a stroke feels like."


	7. Family Ties

When Adam woke up two days later, on Saturday morning, he found that he had the bed to himself.

Unaccustomed to Lawrence's arms not being around him, Adam suddenly felt wide-awake. He got out of bed and went into the kitchen, thinking Larry had gotten up early and was now making breakfast.

Instead of his lover, he found a note Lawrence had scribbled to him.

_Adam, sorry to rush out, but the hospital called and needed me to come in to do some emergency surgery. I'll see you tonight, good luck with your parents. Come by the hospital later and let me know what happened. Love, Larry._

Adam's face blanched.

His parents.

In waking up to find Lawrence not there, he'd forgotten he was going to tell his parents about him and Larry. Adam found this weird, considering he'd been up half the night worrying about it.

Adam went back to his room and got dressed.

He'd left as soon as he was done.

With Lawrence not there, he could find no reason to procrastinate.

Two hours later, Adam pulled up in front of his parents' house.

The house where he grew up. It was a comfortable two-story, painted white.

Adam had been born on Long Island, while his family was visiting relatives. His younger sister, Kate, had been born where his family currently lived.

Kate, he knew, was his parents' favorite. She always had been.

Kate looked like Adam: dark hair, brown eyes, skinny body. But the similarities ended there.

Kate was smarter. She was currently in college, a place where Adam had never set foot. She was outgoing and had plenty of friends. She was dating a wonderful man.

_Well, we have that in common._

Thinking about Lawrence gave Adam strength. He took a deep breath and walked up the driveway to the front door.

He knocked.

In two seconds, his mother appeared at the door.

"Hi, Ma," Adam said.

"Adam?" Lil Faulkner asked. Frowning, she pulled him into an awkward hug. "What're you doing here?"

"I was just in the neighborhood," Adam said. "Just thought I'd say 'hi' to you and Dad."

_Yeah, Mom, I drove two hours to say 'hi', and to tell you that not only was I nearly killed by a madman, but I'm also currently screwing the guy I was trapped with._

"Oh, well, come on in," Lil said. She held the door open for him, and Adam stepped into the house.

"Dad's in the kitchen," Lil said, closing the door. "Kate's here, too."

Inwardly, Adam groaned. His saintly sister was here. That would make telling his parents a lot more fun.

He followed his mother to the kitchen. He could hear the voices of his dad and sister.

"Dad, I'm twenty-seven! I can handle this on my own!"

"We told you before, you're too young!"

"What's up with Kate?" Adam asked his mother.

"You didn't hear? Kate's got a bit of news," Lil replied.

"Lil?" Jim Faulkner suddenly yelled. "Who the hell is that?"

"Your son," Lil replied.

"The boy's here?"

Lil stepped into the kitchen, leaving Adam standing in the doorway.

Jim Faulkner was sitting at the kitchen table. Kate was standing by the stove. The first thing Adam noticed about her was that her stomach had swollen. Kate was at least four months pregnant.

"Hi," Adam said. He met his father's eyes briefly. Jim just stared at him, his eyes holding the same familiar cold expression.

"Adam!" exclaimed Kate.

She went over to him and pulled him into a hug. Adam awkwardly hugged her back.

"I didn't know you were pregnant, Kate," Adam said.

"We would've told you if we could find you," Jim muttered. "We haven't seen hide or hair of you for months. And your mother says you changed your phone number."

"Yeah, I did," Adam said. "I moved."

"Finally moved out of that shithole?" Jim asked. "Kate here's gonna have a baby. She's engaged to be married, too."

"Good for you," Adam said, giving his sister a forced smile.

"What're you doing here, boy?" Jim asked.

"I, um, wanted to talk to you and Mom," Adam said. "I've got some stuff to tell you."

"Stuff?" Lil asked, sitting down next to her husband.

"It's kinda, well, personal stuff," Adam sat down across from his parents, and looked up at his sister. "Kate, could you maybe give us some privacy?"

"Just 'cause your sister's got a bun in the oven it doesn't mean she can't listen in," Jim snapped.

Adam bit his lip. He hadn't been expecting for Kate to be listening, but he knew it was no good to argue.

"Fine," Adam said. "Well, um, first things first…Ma, I told you about what happened to me...a couple months ago."

"Yeah," Lil said. "You said you were kidnapped and almost died."

_Oh, Mom, if only it were as simple as that._

"Well, there's more," Adam said slowly. "I didn't tell you the full story. Why it happened. What happened afterward."

"Well, spit it out," Jim said gruffly.

"Well, it started about four months ago," Adam started. "I was in my old apartment, developing pictures, when the lights went out. I went out to look around, and got clonked on the head by…something."

"What was it?" Kate asked.

"I don't know what it was," Adam said, shaking his head. "I saw it for a split second before I passed out. It had big black eyes, stringy black hair, and a pig's snout."

"Are you telling me you were kidnapped by some mutant pig thing?" Jim asked, scoffing.

"No!" Adam snapped. "It was someone in a costume…it had to be."

He shook his head, trying to get rid of the image of the pig-person.

"I woke up in a tub of water. I was chained… to a pipe. In an old bathroom. There was a dead guy in the middle of the floor. He had blown his brains out."

He looked up at his parents and sister. The Faulkner women looked horrified, Jim was frowning as though he wasn't sure he believed what Adam was saying.

"There was another guy in there with me. A doctor. His name was Lawrence. We found messages from the guy who had put us there. Lawrence's said that if he didn't kill me…his wife and kid would die, and we would be left to die in that bathroom. We found two hacksaws in the room, and Lawrence used his to cut off his foot and kill me with the same gun the dead guy used on himself. Lawrence shot me, um, in the shoulder."

Adam pulled the neck of his T-shirt down, exposing his shoulder and the barely-healed gunshot wound. Kate looked shocked, Lil had tears in her eyes, and Jim was surveying his son, arms crossed, with the same cold frown.

"A guy who was in on the whole thing…another long story…came in and tried to shoot Lawrence. I managed to stop him by, um, hitting him over the head. He…died, and Lawrence crawled out of the bathroom to get help. He kept his promise, we were rescued and, so, here I am."

There was a long pause. Adam bit his lip and watched his mother wipe her eyes. Kate stood up, and went to the window. Adam looked at Jim. The older man's expression hadn't changed.

"Is that it?" he asked.

Adam's mouthed dropped open.

"Are you kidding me?" Adam asked angrily. "I almost fucking die and you say 'Is that it?'"

Looking furious, Jim opened his mouth to retaliate. Nobody spoke to him like that.

"Why were you kidnapped?" Lil asked loudly, before an argument could break out.

"The guy who did it, well, he works under the belief that people don't appreciate life," Adam said. "Lawrence was chosen because he was a workaholic who was being unfaithful to his wife. You know why I was chosen, I don't need to go into it."

Kate turned around and looked at her brother. "Are you talking about Jigsaw?" she asked in a hushed voice.

"Yeah," Adam said, surprised. "How'd you know?"

"The news," Lil said. "He's been on the news a lot lately."

Lil wiped her eyes, got up, and put her arms around Adam.

"I'm so thankful you're OK," she said, sniffling.

Adam bit his lip again. The moment had come. It was now or never.

"Um, there's something else," Adam said.

"What is it?" Lil asked. She pulled away from Adam and sat down next to her husband. She frowned and set her jaw, as though she was bracing herself for something worse.

"The whole thing…well, it, um, it brought someone into my life."

"You're seeing someone?" Lil asked.

"Yeah," Adam said. "We, uh, met after the Jigsaw incident. We really care about each other."

"Well, that's wonderful!" Lil said, jumping up and giving Adam another hug. "What's her name?"

"Um, well…." Adam said. His hands gripped each other; Adam hadn't noticed until now how cold and clammy they had become. "Well, there's something you should know…about them."

"Well, spit it out," Jim said. "What's the girl's name?"

"Larry," he said. His entire body suddenly felt cold. It had finally come out.

There was another long silence. Adam's entire family gaped at him.

"Is that short for Lauren?" Lil asked.

"No," Adam said. "It's, uh, short for…Lawrence."

"That's funny," Jim growled. "That sound's like a guy's name."

"Well, um, he _is_ a guy," Adam said, not meeting Jim's eyes.

"Are you saying you're seeing the man you were trapped with?" Kate asked. "The doctor?"

"Yeah," Adam said. He looked up at his family. His parents had gone very pale, and Kate's mouth was hanging open.

"So, what, you went through hell, and then one day you went to this guy's hospital room and said 'Stick it in me?'" Jim said in a dangerous voice.

"What? No!" Adam said, standing up. "It's not like that, not at all. We're in love, I'm in love with him!"

Jim burst into laughter did not have a trace of true amusement in it.

"Oh! Did you hear that, Lil? Our son is _in love_! With a man! We should celebrate! I mean, this is every parent's dream!" He looked at Adam. "What do you people do for this kind of thing? You and your gay friends?"

"Dad, I'm not _gay_-gay!" Adam said. "I'm not flamboyant! I'm fucking in love! Can't you be happy for me?"

"Happy?" Jim asked. "What about this is supposed to make me happy? My only son is a fucking fudge-packer! A goddamned faggot!"

He stepped up close to Adam and looked into his eyes. Not flinching, Adam squarely met his father's cold, angry gaze.

"Say it," Jim said. "Tell me that you, the son of James Faulkner, are in love with another man."

"I am in love with Lawrence Gordon," Adam said without batting an eye. "James Faulkner be damned."

Jim grabbed Adam's arm in a vice-like grip.

"Get the fuck out of my house, you little faggot," Jim said. "You're dead to me."

He roughly let go and turned away. Adam looked up at his mother. Not meeting her son's eyes, Lil went over to her husband and put a comforting arm around him.

Tears burned behind Adam's eyes. Shaking his head, he turned around and left the room. He reached the front door and stepped onto the porch, slamming the door behind him.

Reaching the driveway, Adam noticed his father's blue car. His temper getting the better of him, he went over to it and gave it a hard kick, leaving a large dent. The bang his foot made against the metal sounded like a gunshot.

Before his dad could come out, Adam went over to his own car and got in.

Biting his lip, Adam rested his head against the steering wheel and felt tears slide down his cheeks.

He had no idea why he was crying.

He knew from the beginning his father wouldn't take this well.

Maybe he thought his mother would take the news better than she did and at least accept it.

But no, all she did was comfort her husband, as though he himself had just been disowned by his homophobic father.

Adam wished Lawrence was there with him. It would've made this much easier, and Larry would be there to comfort him.

"Adam?"

The voice startled him so badly that Adam's hand slipped and accidentally honked the horn. Adam looked up and saw his sister. He quickly wiped his eyes.

"Kate, hi," he said quickly. "What're you doing out here? You don't have a brother anymore, remember?"

"Can I sit down?"

"Yeah, sure, I guess," Adam reached over and open the passenger's side door. Kate went around the car and slipped into the passenger's seat, shutting the door behind her.

"Adam, I'm sorry about Dad," Kate began. "He was out of line."

"Kate, did we grow up in the same house?" Adam asked incredulously. "You know Dad: he wasn't out of line, he was speaking his mind."

There was a brief silence.

"Do you know what Dad said when I told him I was pregnant?"

"What? 'When's the wedding?' 'Are you gonna invite your loser brother?'"

"Adam, I'm not engaged. I'm having the baby alone," Kate said sadly. "The father wants nothing to do with me or the baby, he called me a slut when I told him."

"Classic," Adam said bitterly.

"When I told Dad what happened and what's gonna happen, the first words out of his mouth were 'My grandchild's gonna be a bastard?' Since then, he's been trying to persuade me to marry the father. Dad is too hot-headed to realize that it's not gonna happen."

"Kate, it's just not the same," Adam said sadly. "Dad hates homosexuals, and I confessed today that I'm the thing he hates most. He's disowned me. It's not like he's prejudiced against out-of-wedlock babies. He hasn't disowned you, he's still gonna be there for you and the baby."

"He barely speaks to me anymore," Kate said. She looked up at Adam. "Adam, I know you think that I'm our parents favorite. But believe me, I'm not. They treat me the same way they treat you. Always nagging me. I've always been jealous of you."

Adam looked up. "Seriously?"

"Yeah," Kate said. "You've always been so free, always making your own rules. I've always kinda resented myself for not being able to stand up to Dad."

"Look where living by my own rules got me," Adam said. "Imprisoned in a bathroom by a madman."

"But you found love because of that," Kate said. She looked into Adam's eyes. "Are you really in love with this guy?"

Adam smiled, thinking of Lawrence. "Yeah," he said. "Never met anyone like him. He's handsome and sweet."

Kate smiled. "Good lover?" she asked teasingly.

"Oh, yeah," Adam said, thinking of the last time he and Lawrence had made love.

"I'm so happy for you," Kate said. "And I'm so sorry about Dad."

"Me, too," Adam said. "And same to you,"

The Faulkner kids smiled at each other and hugged.


	8. Friends and Lovers

A few hours later, Adam pulled into town.

He suddenly remembered that Lawrence had told him to come by the hospital after meeting with his parents. Adam drove in the direction of the local hospital.

Soon, it came into view. Adam pulled the car into the giant parking lot, parked the car, and headed into the hospital.

He went over to the receptionist's desk. The woman working behind the desk was an overweight woman Adam had never met.

"Hi, I'm Adam," Adam said. "Is Lawrence Gordon working on this floor? He's a doctor here."

"Obviously," the receptionist snapped. Adam glared at her. "Well, I'm sorry, but I can't divulge that information."

Adam held his tongue, biting back a sharp retort. An idea suddenly hit him. "Could you tell me what floor Violet Miller is on?"

The receptionist looked at him suspiciously for a brief second. "Third floor."

"Thanks,"

Adam went over to the nearest elevator, got in, and hit the button for floor three. He had no intention of seeing Violetta. He figured he could hang around casually and wait for Lawrence to appear. She _had_ said the other night that Lawrence was her doctor.

The elevator slid open. Suddenly, Adam was hit with memories of his hospital stay after he and Lawrence had been rescued.

Adam looked up and down the corridor. No sign of Larry.

Adam sighed. He began to wander down the hall, passing private rooms.

"Adam?"

Adam looked around to see who spoke.

"In here, dummy," said the voice, amused.

Adam peered into a room he'd just passed.

A girl lay in a bed. She had a pale face and brown hair.

"Do we know each other?" Adam asked, frowning.

"It's me, Adam," she said, furrowing her brow.

Adam glanced at the name by the door.

Miller, Violet

_Ailment/s: Malnutrition (brought on by extreme vegetarianism)_

_Status of Condition: Very improved (scheduled for discharge)_

"Vi?" Adam said, shocked. He had never seen Violetta without dyed hair or heavy make-up.

"Yeah, it's me," Violetta said. "Come on in here."

"I'm, uh, waiting for someone," Adam said.

"Please, Adam?" Violetta pleaded. "Just please keep me a little company? For old times sake?"

"All right," Adam sighed. "They might come by and see me."

Adam went into the room and sat down next to his ex-girlfriend.

There was an awkward silence.

"You look, um, different," Adam said. "Don't remember you looking so, well…normal."

"The stupid nurses washed out my hair when I was asleep," Violetta said, scowling. "As for the make-up, I don't have any on me."

"Yeah," Adam said vaguely.

"You OK?" Violetta asked. "You look kinda pale."

"I'm fine," Adam said. "I saw my parents today, we kinda got into a bad argument, things were said, I got upset, and thus the paleness."

"Damn, you saw your parents?" Violetta asked. "Wow, why'd you go see them?"

"I went to tell them about the Jigsaw incident," Adam said. "You remember that shit that happened?"

"Yeah, of course," Violetta said. "That was when I realized how I really felt about you."

Adam fought back an urge to shake his head. He'd heard that a million times from her after he was rescued.

"Hey, Adam?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you have nightmares about that? The whole Jigsaw thing?"  
_Every fucking night, baby._

"Every fucking night," Adam said.

Violetta reached out and put a slender white hand on his. Adam looked down at the hand that was

touching him, and up at Violetta. Violetta gave him a smile, and Adam shakily returned it.

He suddenly felt very strange.

A sound made Adam turn around.

Lawrence was standing in the doorway.

Adam quickly withdrew his hand from Violetta's touch. He stood up and gave Lawrence a big grin, making sure that Violetta didn't see. Lawrence gave him a small smile and went over to Violetta

"Oh, who is this young man, Violet?" Lawrence asked in what Adam called his "doctor voice." Larry looked toward Adam and gave him a small wink.

"A friend," Violetta said. "He just stopped by."

"I'm just gonna go, Vi," Adam said. He gave Lawrence a meaningful look. "I'll see you later."

He left the room.

About five minutes later, Lawrence came out and saw Adam. He motioned for Adam to follow him. Together they walked a few feet from Vi's room. Lawrence gave a quick look around and gave Adam a quick kiss on the mouth.

"How're you doing?" Larry whispered. "What happened with your parents?"

"It's a no-go with them," Adam said. "Complete meltdown from both of them, my dad especially."

"I'm sorry," Larry said.

"Don't worry about it," Adam said. "I'll be all right."

Casting another look around, Lawrence pulled Adam close and kissed the top of his head.

"Don't worry," Lawrence said. He gave Adam a seductive grin. "Tonight I'll make it all better."

Adam smiled at him. Lawrence always knew what to say, always knew how to make him feel better.

"I better go," Adam whispered.

"All right," Lawrence looked at his watch. "I won't be off for another three hours or so, but I'll get home as soon as I can."

"All right," Adam said. "Sounds good to me."

He pulled Lawrence close and kissed him, taking a big chance that no one was there to see them. Lawrence pulled off and licked his lips.

"See you later," Larry said. He gave Adam's hand a gentle squeeze and walked off down the hall.

Adam watched him go.

Something that Lawrence had said made him grin to himself.

_Home_.

He had called their apartment home.

He remembered what he had told himself the night he made the decision to tell his parents about Lawrence: even if his parents disowned him, Lawrence was all he needed.

Lawrence said their apartment was home. Adam grinned to himself.

Lawrence was his.


	9. Not Quite All Better

Adam and Lawrence lay, together, next to their bed, sweaty, basking in the afterglow of possibly the hottest and most passionate sex Adam had ever experienced, not just with Lawrence, but period.

After leaving the hospital, Adam had driven around town, whiling away the hours before Lawrence usually came home.

At around six, Adam arrived back at the apartment. Lawrence's car was already in the driveway. He opened the apartment door to find that Larry had set up a romantic, relaxing atmosphere.

Lawrence had met him at the door with a kiss.

"What's up?" Adam had asked.

"Told you I would make it all better, right?" Lawrence had replied.

After they had eaten, Adam had settled into a warm bath. Lawrence had joined him and made sweat that had nothing to do with the hot water break out on Adam's body.

Within minutes, the passion in the bathtub had progressed into the bedroom. They had gotten so caught up in each other, they hadn't bothered with the bed.

An hour later, covered by a blanket, they lay on the floor. Lawrence was snuggled up to Adam, his chin resting on his shoulder, his fingers lightly Adam's bare hip and thigh. Adam had dozed off; he hadn't meant to, he was just so relaxed and happy that his eyes had drooped seconds after collapsing on top of his lover.

Lawrence's light touching formed goosebumps on his lover's skin. Adam slowly woke up. He cracked his eyes open, turned onto his back and looked up at Lawrence. He smiled.

"Hey," he whispered.

"Hey," Larry said, smiling down at him. He leaned down and kissed Adam. Adam put his hand behind Lawrence's head and put more passion into the kiss.

"How long have I been out?" Adam asked.

Lawrence looked up at the clock beside the bed. "Oh, about three hours."

"What?" Adam asked, frowning. He looked a little shocked.

"Just kidding," Larry said. He grinned as Adam relaxed, looking relieved. "Why so shocked? You got another handsome doctor on the side?"

"Of course not," Adam said, smiling. "I'm all yours, you're all mine."

"I think I realized that tonight," Lawrence said softly.

He leaned down and began kissing Adam's throat. His hand drifted downward and gently grasped Adam. Pleasured, Adam shut his eyes and smiled.

Lawrence pulled away from him and lay on his back. Adam lay down on top of him and began to kiss his lover. Overtaken by pure lust, their hands went through each other's sweaty hair, and soon began to wander all over each other's bodies, from each other's shoulders, along each other's backsides, eventually making their way to more interesting body parts.

Minutes later, Adam settled on top of Lawrence. Panting, Larry's tightened his arms around Adam. Adam settled his head on Larry's chest, catching his breath. Larry leaned down and put his nose into Adam's soft hair. Lawrence's warm breath seeped over Adam's scalp.

A wonderful feeling of contentment settled over Adam. Drowsy, his eyes drooped.

"I love you, Lawrence," Adam murmured.

"I love you, too," Lawrence said, the scent of Adam's hair filling his nostrils. "I always have."

Adam smiled and snuggled closer to Lawrence, his foot brushing against his lover's ankle.

To his great surprise and slight amusement, he felt something warm and sticky against his foot.

Adam's eyes opened and he looked up at Lawrence with a grin.

"Damn, you're quick!" he said.

"Huh?" Lawrence asked.

"You don't feel that?" Adam asked.

Looking down, Adam pulled the blanket off of them.

To his horror, he saw blood covering his foot and the floor beneath them.

"What the fuck?" Adam cried in alarm.

He looked at Lawrence's foot, the one that was prosthetic.

The artificial foot was gone.

The ankle was pouring blood.

"Oh, my God, Lawrence-" Adam choked out.

In horror, he looked up at Lawrence. The older man was frowning down at something to his right.

"Adam, what are these?" he asked.

He held up a handful of pictures. Adam recognized them as the ones he himself had taken of Lawrence, the ones he had found in the bathroom.

"How could you do this?" Lawrence asked in a hurt tone.

"Larry, I didn't mean to-"

"I trusted you! You tricked me!"

"I'm so sorry…I'm a different person now…"

Adam suddenly woke up with a gasp. Lawrence lay beside him on the floor, his arms tightly around Adam. His blonde hair was still damp from the bath they had shared.

Adam's abrupt movement didn't seem to have disturbed him. Larry was still fast asleep.

Adam was glad for this.

This dream had been more disturbing than the one he had had in which Lawrence had left him to die in the bathroom.

Catching his breath, Adam, frowning, turned away from Lawrence.

Why the fuck did he keep having these dreams? Ever since he and Lawrence had become a couple, all of his Jigsaw/Bathroom related dreams always ended with him losing Lawrence in some way.

_Well, obviously, you're afraid of losing Larry, _a little voice in Adam's head said. _You lost him in the Bathroom and you don't want it to happen again._

_True,_ Adam agreed with himself. _But there's something about these dreams that just seems so…ominous. Like it's gonna happen eventually._

Adam turned back over and looked at Lawrence. Even in the dark, he could make out every detail of Lawrence's features. 

He lay back down, frowning.

Despite Lawrence's arms around him, it took him forever to fall asleep again.


	10. Day of Unrest

The next morning, Adam awoke to find himself lying on the floor. He was briefly baffled, but then remembered the night before.

He smiled, stretched, and leaned over to nuzzle Larry awake, only to discover he wasn't there.

Looking around, his eyes fell on the alarm clock next to the bed.

It was 7am. Lawrence must've left for work.

Why hadn't he woken Adam? That was their little ritual: Lawrence would wake up, wake Adam

up, say good morning, and then get dressed and leave.

The smell of bacon and coffee hit Adam's nose.

"What the fuck?" he wondered aloud.

Why wasn't Larry at work? Did his schedule get changed, or was Adam so out of it that he

somehow forgot that today was Larry's day off?

Rubbing sleep from his eyes, he stood up, wrapped a blanket around himself, and left the bedroom.

Lawrence stood at the stove, turning bacon.

"Hey, you," he greeted Adam.

"Hey," Adam replied. "What's going on?"

"What do you mean?"  
"Well, Lawrence, why aren't you at work? Is today your day off?"

"In a manner of speaking," Lawrence said slyly. "I called in 'sick'."

"What?! Why?" Adam exclaimed. Lawrence never missed a day at work, if he could help it, and pretty much considered it a sin to play hooky.

"I just wanted to spend today with you," Larry said. "After yesterday and all."

"Come on, man, I'm fine," Adam said. He paused. "What do you mean, spend the day?"

"Well…I figured, you know, spending the day_ together_," Larry said. He went over to Adam and slipped his arms around him. The blanket dropped to the floor. "If you know what I mean."

He kissed Adam, and Adam wrapped his arms around Lawrence, returning the kiss. They broke apart and rested their foreheads together. Horribly, Adam was reminded of another time when they rested their heads together and looked into each other's eyes. Only that time, they'd been filled with fear and uncertainty, not love and affection.

_Well, maybe just a little,_ Adam thought.

"Oh, God, you know I'd love to," Adam whispered. "But I've gotta go to work, myself. My boss is gonna come down on me if I miss another day."

Lawrence looked hurt. Adam was sorely tempted to accept Larry's idea and call in "sick." But he had another idea, something that would ensure Larry a happy day.

"I'll tell you what," Adam murmured. "I have to take some shots at a thing that's gonna happen at a certain place today. But I'll bring you home a present."

"What?" Lawrence asked.

"Can't tell you that," Adam said. He kissed Lawrence again. "But as soon as I get home, we'll have some private time, 'kay?"

"OK," Lawrence said.

He kissed Adam on the forehead and reluctantly released him. Giving Lawrence a smile, Adam picked up the blanket, and went into the bedroom. Upon seeing that the clock by their bed now read 7:15am, he dressed at top speed, grabbed his camera, and went back into the kitchen. He went over to Lawrence, gave him a good-bye kiss, and went over to the door.

"Oh, Adam, quick thing before you go?" Larry asked as Adam pulled the door open.

"Yeah?"

"Could you tell me what day it is? I mean, since I'm not going to work, I might get the days messed up, and think that tomorrow's date is today. You know how I hate getting confused like that."

"Yeah, sure," Adam glanced at the calendar. All the days up until then were X'd off in red ink, as was Lawrence's habit. What Adam found funny was that even though today was Monday, Sunday hadn't been crossed off. As far as Adam knew, Lawrence had never missed a day.

"That's weird," Adam said, frowning. "I saw my parents yesterday, and today's Monday…This doesn't make sense."

"What day did you see your parents?"

"Saturday…oh!" Adam exclaimed. In amused disbelief, he looked at Lawrence and grinned. "Oh, you asshole! You were just gonna let me trot off, find the place closed, and spend all day wondering why?"

"Yeah, at first, but this was more fun," Lawrence said, grinning.

"Oh, I am such an idiot," Adam said. He looked at Larry. "This is clearly all your fault."

"How so?"

"You rocked my world, I obviously can't think straight."

Larry chuckled. "Well, since you're not going into work, you have any other plans?"

"Nah," Adam said. "Sunday's supposed to be a day of rest, right?"

That afternoon, Adam and Lawrence lounged on the sofa, watching _Pet Sematary._ It had been tough trying to decide on a movie. While Lawrence favored foreign movies and dramas, Adam liked action and horror. However, Lawrence did like to read Stephen King's books, and had been contemplating reading _Pet Sematary_, so they managed to come to a compromise after discovering that it was on TV.

Adam had said it was one of the few flicks that truly creeped him out. So far, Larry had been pretty disturbed by it.

"How can you watch this?" Larry asked, wincing, watching a flashback scene in which a formerly dead teenager burned alongside his father in their house. "This is creepy and gross!"

"I've seen it too much," Adam said. "It came out when I was twelve or thirteen, I saw it in the theater, and bought the tape. I wore it out watching it so much."

"I believe that," Lawrence said.

"You wanna change it? You can if you want. I don't think you'd want to see the ending."

"Thank you," Lawrence said, grabbing the remote. He began to channel surf. Adam sighed and rested his head on Larry's shoulder. Larry put the remote in his other hand and put his arm around Adam, who sighed and snuggled up more comfortably against Lawrence.

Finally, the channel settled on the five o' clock news.

"The _news_? Come on, man!"

"Hey, you said I could change the channel," Lawrence teased. "You didn't specify to what one."

Adam rolled his eyes. He avoided the news whenever possible. Apart from finding it somewhat dull, it always reminded him of Jigsaw and the Bathroom.

Preparing himself for an hour of boredom, Adam repositioned himself, resting his head against Larry's thigh. In this position, he figured that it would be not only comfortable, but also would serve a purpose if he got too bored. He could entertain himself as well as make Larry a bit more relaxed.

The news flashed on. Adam closed his eyes, dozing, contented.

"_Our top story tonight, the Jigsaw killer-has he struck again?"_

Immediately, Adam eyes whipped open and he sat up a little. Above him, he felt Lawrence tense.

"_Three bodies have been discovered in a warehouse off Stygian Street, the victims of brutal murder. The bodies have been identified as Dr. Lynn Denlon, John Kramer, and Amanda Young. The coroner has released information that Kramer and Young died of brutal neck trauma, while Dr. Denlon suffered gunshot wounds to the head. Dr. Denlon was found wearing a device that could have been the handwork of the Jigsaw Killer, the killer who specializes in teaching his victims life lessons. The warehouse where the bodies were found is the same warehouse that, six months ago, respected oncologist Dr. Lawrence Gordon and twenty-eight-year-old Adam Faulkner barely escaped with their lives. Police have discovered a workshop of sorts in the warehouse, and they have reason to believe that they have found the workshop of Jigsaw. The three new deaths make the warehouse the place of death for at least fourteen people. No leads yet as to who the mysterious Jigsaw is, but the police continue to investigate. Updates on this story will be given as they become available."_

During the broadcast, pictures of John Kramer, Amanda Young, and Dr. Lynn Denlon appeared on screen. Larry and Adam both gasped, but for similarly different reasons.

"I know them," Lawrence said in shock. "All three. I worked with Lynn at the hospital, we both treated Kramer for a brain tumor last year. Amanda survived a game of Jigsaw's about six months before we did, I heard her tell Detective Tapp about it at the police station." Lawrence shook his head. "Lynn was a great surgeon, but she's had a rough time recently. Her son died in an accident a few months ago, it really shook her and her family up. The whole thing kind of makes me more glad we got out of there. Right, Adam? Adam?"

Adam didn't answer. He kept staring at the screen, even though a commercial had popped up. His brow was furrowed and he was frowning, clearly thinking hard.

"Adam?" Lawrence asked again, putting a hand gently on Adam's shoulder.

"I know them, too." Adam said. His voice was somewhat hoarse. "Not the doctor, but the other two. I saw Amanda the night I was kidnapped. A couple hours before. We flirted a bit, I took her picture, I left for a gig, she went upstairs to someone's apartment."

"And Kramer?"

Adam bit his lip and shut his eyes. The old man's face was horribly familiar, but he didn't want to tell Lawrence. Memories kept flying through Adam's mind.

A voice, hoarse after eight hours of not being used: _"The key to that chain…is in the bathtub._"

A room going dark, followed by Adam's own desperate screams.

The same cold voice, before leaving Adam to die: _"Game over!"_

More screams, filled with pain, fear, and despair.

At the time, Adam had deduced that the old man was the Jigsaw Killer, but had never known his name. Lawrence had told Adam, in the Bathroom, about Kramer, but, of course, Adam didn't know what he looked like.

He sure did now.

"Adam, how do you know Kramer?"

Adam looked at his lover.

"He's Jigsaw."

"What?"  
"The old guy, he's Jigsaw!" Adam repeated. He was breathing hard. He looked at Lawrence and pointed to the TV. "That old fucker is the fucker who left me to die! Who forced you to cut off your foot! Who threatened your wife and kid! Remember him?"

Lawrence raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"Am I sure?" Adam said, panic in his voice. "Of course I'm fucking sure! The worst fucking moment of my life, I'm gonna remember every fucking detail!"

"OK, OK, calm down," Lawrence said. He leaned over and put his arms around Adam. He was just a little surprised to feel him shaking.

"Oh, God, what are we gonna do?" Adam asked, not feeling at all calmer

"What do you mean?" Lawrence asked.

Adam pulled out of the hug and looked into Larry's blue eyes. "About Kramer! We have to tell the police!"

"Adam…there's nothing that we can really do," Lawrence said reluctantly. "Kramer's dead, and, if you're right, no one's going to get hurt."

"If I'm right? _If I'm right?_" Adam exploded. He stood up fast. "What do you mean, if I'm right? I know who I fucking saw!"

"Do you?"  
Adam was appalled. "How the _fuck _can you doubt me? I know who Jigsaw is, and you're telling

me not to go to the cops, that I might be wrong?"

Lawrence stood up and took Adam's hands. "Adam," he whispered. "There's no proof that John Kramer is Jigsaw, except our testimony."

"So…you believe me?" Adam asked gratefully.

"Of course," Lawrence said. "I saw him too, after I left to get help. He knelt down and spoke to me. Until now, I thought blood loss was making me hallucinate. Anyway, the cops aren't going to simply take the word of two men who barely escaped him, two men who were in pain and scared to death. They're going to need hard evidence."

" I fucking saw Kramer get up and _leave me in that fucking room!_"

"Shhh," Lawrence murmured, massaging Adam's shoulders. "I know, I know. But unfortunately, there's nothing we can do. We could tell the cops, but they wouldn't believe us. Kramer was a frail old man, and we're two kidnap victims who went through some serious mental anguish. Until they find cold hard proof, we're stuck."

Adam bit his lip and looked at Lawrence. "OK," he said finally. "I'll let this go, for now."

"OK," Lawrence said. "I think that's the best thing we can do."

Adam moved into Lawrence's arms. Larry was surprised to feel that he was still shaking. Hugging Adam to him, he put one hand on his head and gently lay down on the couch. Tightening his hug, Adam lay down on top of Lawrence and shut his eyes. Lawrence ran his fingers through Adam's dark hair. Before long, Adam fell asleep.

Lawrence felt troubled. Poor Adam. The Jigsaw incident had shaken him in such a profound way. Before the Bathroom, Adam, from what Lawrence could figure, was confident and independent, if a little foul-mouthed and immature. He was strong and needed no one. He was stubborn and let no one in.

Upon meeting him, Lawrence had hated him. Adam had lived by his own rules, was in the prime of life, had nothing to tie him down but monthly bills. He didn't know the pressures of a wife, child, and full-time job. Unlike Lawrence, Adam could do anything he wanted and not have to worry about anyone's opinion.

Lawrence didn't have that. He had gotten his MD, gotten married, and had Diana before he could really appreciate the joys of being young and carefree. That had been one reason he'd been with Carla. She was young and enjoying that time before the pressures of being a doctor fell on her.

Lawrence had hated Adam for having that luxury. And Adam had hated him for his "perfect" life and the fact that he was destroying that by having an affair.

Lawrence recalled the moment he first felt something like affection toward Adam: when he killed Zep Hindle.

Lawrence had shot Adam and had believed he killed him.

Zep had come in and pointed a gun at Lawrence.

Adam had reached up, grabbed him around the knees, wrestled the gun away from him, and hit him over the head with a toilet tank cover so many times that Lawrence had to stop him.

Adam began to cry from fear and the pain of the wound in his shoulder, and Lawrence had comforted him, caressing his cheek.

At that moment, he'd felt closer to Adam that he'd ever felt towards anyone, even Allison. All the resentment was gone between both of them, and they realized that they were, and always had been, in the same situation.

The affection Larry had felt towards him had been the thing that kept him going as he crawled out of that place. After they'd been rescued, the affection that Lawrence had felt had turned into love. Now, here they were, lovers who were happily living together.

Since they were rescued and became a couple, Adam had changed so much. He was still the Adam Lawrence had fallen in love with: sharp-tongued, strong, stubborn, witty. Jigsaw's lesson had been taught: Adam learned to let people in, and knew the value of life and love.

But, while it was clear he was happier than he had been pre-Jigsaw, Adam was still so afraid. He didn't like being alone at night, and would wait up to late hours until Lawrence got home from work. He didn't like to sleep alone, and only slept soundly after they'd been intimate. On the nights he didn't sleep well, he would have terrible nightmares; nine times out of ten, Larry would hear Adam scream his name in his sleep.

Lawrence could only imagine what he had gone through after Kramer had left him in the Bathroom, with only Zep Hindle's body for company.

Lawrence looked down at Adam, smiled, and kissed his forehead.

"I love you," he whispered.

In his sleep, Adam smiled and shifted his position, snuggling closer to Lawrence.


	11. Accusations

The next morning, Adam pulled up to the place where he had been planning on going yesterday: the elementary school.

Diana's school.

Today, there was some sort of guest speaker scheduled to speak to Diana's class and Adam's boss had asked him to take some photos for the article about it that would appear in the paper later in the week.

While it was not strictly allowed (film was expensive), Adam was planning on taking some shots of Diana for Lawrence. Adam's boss could deduct the cost of the pictures from Adam's paycheck.

Adam got out of the car and took a back entrance into the school, immediately taking a right and heading towards Diana's classroom. When he reached the classroom, he saw it packed with kids and adults, and realized he was a little late. He doubled back and went around to another door that was located at the back of the room. He was quietly pulled the door open and went into the room.

Most everyone looked up at him, and Adam gave an apologetic smile. The guy at the front of the room continued to talk as though there had been no interruption.

Adam looked around at the kids, and soon caught Diana's eye. Diana smiled at him, and Adam raised his camera and took a picture of her. He then motioned for her to pay attention to the speaker. Diana turned back to the front of the room. While Adam took the occasional picture, he found his mind wandering, and his eyes fell on Diana every so often.

As a rule, Adam didn't much like kids. He found them whiny and annoying. However, Diana was like a niece to him. In personality, she was amazingly like Lawrence in some ways, with her sweetness and independence. However, with her brown hair and brown eyes, she looked like neither him nor Allison. Adam could only assume she took after one of her grandparents in looks.

Adam knew that the incident with Zep had had a profound effect on Diana, and that her nightmares were as bad as his own. Adam saw her periodically (Allison didn't like her staying at Larry and Adam's apartment), and from what Lawrence told him, Diana was doing much better, thanks to counseling and medication, but Adam felt a pang at the thought that Lawrence moving in with Adam didn't help matters.

Later, after the class was dismissed, Diana came over to Adam. Adam knelt down and gave her a hug.

"How ya doing, kid?" Adam asked with a smile.

"I'm OK," she said. "Is Daddy here?"

"No, he had to work today," he said apologetically. "How's your mom?"

"Fine," Diana said. She looked troubled.

"You OK?" Adam asked.

"I miss Daddy," she said. "And Mommy has a new boyfriend. He's no fun."

"I'm sorry," Adam said. He thought for a second. "You want to make your dad happy?"

Diana nodded. Adam held up the camera.

"You want me to take your picture for him?" he asked. "That way, he can see you and call you tonight."

"All right,"

Diana smiled at him. Adam took a second picture of her. He waited while she grabbed her stuff, and walked out with her to wait for Allison. After giving him another quick hug, Diana ran out onto the playground. As Diana played, Adam took a few more pictures of her, knowing that Lawrence would love them.

"Mr. Faulkner?"

Adam jumped as he felt a hand tap his shoulder. He looked around and saw Diana's teacher, Ms. Mann.

"Oh, um, hi," Adam stuttered. "You startled me."

"I'm not surprised," she said coldly. "May I talk to you? In private?"

"Oh. Sure," Adam caught Diana's eye, gave her a wave, and followed the teacher back into the school. When they reached the classroom, Ms. Mann shut the door behind them.

"So…what's up?" Adam asked.

"Mr. Faulkner, I noticed you with one of my students just now," the teacher said.

"So?" Adam asked, trying not to sound saucy.

"May I asked what you were doing, taking so many pictures of her?" Ms. Mann asked, eyeing him.

"The shots are for her father," Adam said.

"For Dr. Gordon," she repeated. It wasn't a question.

"Well, yeah," Adam asked. "I know him, and he doesn't get to see her that much, and I thought-"

"That's enough," Ms. Mann said. "Mr. Faulkner, I must remind you that you are only paid to take photos of what you're told to. It looks highly suspicious of you to take multiple pictures of an eight-year old girl."

Adam suddenly got the picture. "Wait…do you think I'm a _pedophile?_"

"It certainly seems it."

"Look, lady, I don't have sex with kids," Adam said.

_Apparently, I have sex with their fathers._

"Your tone says otherwise," Ms. Mann said.

"I don't like kids, period. I just came here 'cause my boss told me to. Gotta eat."

"I want you to know that I will report my suspicions to the school board, and Dr. and Mrs. Gordon, and your supervisor," she said, as if Adam hadn't spoken. "It's likely you won't be allowed back here."

"Good," Adam snapped. "If I'm gonna be accused of being a child molester, I don't want to be here."

With that, he left the room. When he got outside, he saw Diana get into Allison's car. Diana looked startled by the stormy look on his face. Adam looked at the driver's seat and saw Ally. Ally looked at Adam stonily. He looked away from her, feeling that there was no justice in the world.

He needed a walk.

About fifteen minutes later, he ended up at Rudy's, a diner that doubled as a bar. Since it was only about three-thirty, Adam felt a hard drink would be inappropriate, and so ordered a Coke.

Adam looked around at the familiar restaurant. He had gone here quite often in his pre-Jigsaw days, and found that the place hadn't changed much.

The bartender set the soda in front of Adam. Adam took a sip.

"Hi, Adam,"

A hand rested on his arm. Adam jumped five feet, sending carbonation up his nose. Coughing, Adam looked up and saw the person who had startled him.

"Vi, hi," he said, spluttering. Violetta sat down next to him and handed him a napkin. "Thanks," he said, wiping his nose.

"Sorry to startle you," Violetta said apologetically.

"It's OK," he said. "Usually, I look around for people I know before I drink something."

Violetta smiled. "You seem cheerier,"

"Is that sarcasm?"

"Kinda," she said. "Last time I saw you, you were kinda glum. Now, you seem kinda glum, but more talkative."

"Bad day,"

"What happened?"

"Nothing," Adam said, carefully taking another sip of soda. "It was kinda dumb, actually. I was at the school for a gig, I took a few shots of a friend's daughter- shots for _him_, not me - and the teacher…. well, she thought I was a pedophile and told me off. Said she'd make it so I can't come back. That would be a _big_ loss." He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, right. You always hated kids," Violetta said, with another smile. Adam suddenly realized that he'd rarely seen her smile. _Unlike Lawrence_…

"So…how you been?" Adam asked, realizing that the conversation hit a lull.

"Same shit, different day," she said. "The whole hospital thing really fucked me up. Doctor told me to eat better, like that's gonna happen."

"Lawrence knows what he's talking about, listen to him," Adam said.

"Lawrence?"

"Your doctor?"

"Yeah, but how well do you know him?"

"He's, um, my roommate," Adam said. _Yeah, roommates who sleep together._

"How did that happen?" Violetta asked. "I figured the guy would be rich enough to have his own place, or be married or something."

"He's divorced, and didn't want to live alone, so he asked me to live with him," Adam said.

"You guys sound like fags or something," Violetta said, grinning.

Anger hit Adam, but he pushed it down. He looked at his watch.

"I gotta go," Adam said, a little stiffly. "See you."

Adam stood up, but Violetta grabbed his arm. "Hey, Adam, can I ask you something?"

"If it's about what I went through, than no,"

"It's not, I promise."

"What?" Adam asked wearily, as though he was in a great hurry.

"Do you want to go out sometime?"

Adam opened his mouth to say an immediate no, but Violetta cut him off. "Please, Adam before you say no, hear me out,"

Irritated, Adam sat down.

"We both went through some serious shit," she began. "We both could've died but we didn't. I know why I broke up with you, but you've really changed. We both have. And neither of are seeing anyone, so whaddaya say?"

Adam studied her. A year's worth of his time existed between him and this girl. A year's worth of memories, kisses, and kinky sex that he had never dreamed of before her. However, there were also harsh words, mind games, and betrayal.

_What?,_ screamed a voice in his head._ Why the fuck are you considering this?! You're with Lawrence, you love Lawrence! Larry loves you for who you are, unlike this bitch! She dumped you because _you_ were too angry. Remember?_

Adam shook his head.

"Vi, I'm sorry," he said, wondering just how sorry he was. "I can't. I need to be by myself. Sort shit out."

"All right," she said, letting go of him. "I guess I get that."

"So…I'll see ya," Adam said.

"Bye," she said shortly, turning her back to him.

Adam went towards the door. Once there, he looked back at his ex. She was in the same position, head bowed, back stiff. A sure sign of anger.

Nobody could show silent anger better than Violetta.


	12. Argument

Later that night, Adam was in his darkroom when Lawrence came home.

"Hey, there," Adam said, coming out of the darkroom, wiping his hands. He went to kiss Larry, but Lawrence pulled away, something he had never done before.

"What's up?" Adam asked, frowning.

"A couple of things," Larry said, setting his jacket and briefcase on the table. He looked at Adam. Adam saw immediately that he was very angry. "All concerning you."

"Me?" Adam asked. He wondered what he could've done to make Lawrence so angry. Did someone see him and Violetta together at Rudy's, got the wrong idea, and tell Lawrence? No, it couldn't be that. Lawrence was a very rational person, and would've asked Adam about it first, before becoming angry.

" I got a couple of phone calls today," Lawrence said. "Some very interesting ones. One was from Allison, saying that you did something to Diana. Something sexual."

Adam's eyes widened. "What-?"

"I didn't believe her, but then I got a call from Diana's teacher," Larry went on. "Mind telling me why you were taking pictures of her?"

"They were for you!" Adam said, a little panicked. It scared him to see Lawrence, who usually looked at him so lovingly, looking at him with such a blazing look, a look that reminded Adam vividly of times in the Bathroom. "I took them for you, so you could see her, sort of!"

"Adam, I don't need you to do that!" Larry said furiously. "I can see my daughter anytime I want, I just can't with you here!"

Adam felt hurt, but Lawrence continued to talk. "Do you know how much Ally doesn't want Diana exposed to us? She doesn't trust you! Of course she panicked when that teacher called her and told her what she thought you did…." Larry gave Adam a hard look. "You really didn't do anything to her?"

"God, no!" Adam said. "How the hell could you think that?"

"She's my daughter! I have to protect her, it's father's instinct, you have no idea what it's like to think your child is in danger." Lawrence shook his head. "And with everything that happened-"

"Shut up,"

Larry looked up. "What?"

"Don't fucking bring that up again," Adam said. "I think about that enough. I don't need it brought up as an excuse."

"An _excuse_?"

"Yeah, an excuse for your thinking that I did something to your daughter," Adam said. "I seriously don't know how you'd think I'd do that, even if you are a father. I thought you knew me better than that."

"Adam, I'm sorry, but with your past-"

"My _past?_"

"You weren't the most trustworthy person-"

"Yeah, then, _then_ I wasn't the most honest person. A goddamned voyeur who skulked in the shadows. But I never _ever_ hurt a kid. And I would _never _hurt yours. And you can go to Hell if you think any differently. I'm going."

Adam went to the door, grabbing his jacket.

"Adam-"

Before Lawrence could finish, Adam left, slamming the door behind him.


	13. Mistake

An hour later, Adam was wandering the streets, his argument with Lawrence playing in his head.

Adam was furious.

How- _how_ –could Lawrence think that about him? That he would hurt his kid. He may not have liked kids, but he did love Diana, to a point.

He would never have _dreamed _of doing anything to her.

He needed someone to talk to.

But who? Adam had no close friends and his family were not only two hours away, but also disapproved of his relationship.

Lawrence would have been the one he talked to. He and Lawrence shared everything.

But this time, Lawrence was part of the problem.

Adam sighed.

He looked up, and realized that he had wandered back into his old neighborhood.

He felt an odd feeling of comfort. As though he was home, as though he was back where he belonged.

But how could that be? Lawrence was his home. He belonged with Lawrence…didn't he?

Adam went up to the front door of his old apartment building and looked at the list of tenants by the door.

Violet Miller was on the list.

Adam reached out a finger and pushed the button for the buzzer to her apartment.

Violetta may not have been family or a close friend, but she was someone he knew, and he needed that right now.

"Hello?" Violetta's voice came over the speaker.

"It's me," Adam said.

"Adam?"

"Yeah. Can I come up?"

"Sure, I guess."

A buzzer sounded, and the door unlocked.

Adam opened it, and found himself at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the apartments.

He was suddenly hit with a memory.

A beautiful young woman, with her brown hair cut like a rock star's, standing in the middle of steps, on her way up to some apartment.

The feeling of being tongue-tied.

Adam raising his camera to take her picture.

Adam shook away the memory of Amanda Young and went upstairs, ascending the stairs that he had hated in a past life.

Violetta was waiting for him a few floors up. She frowned when she saw him.

"What's up, Adam?" she asked, leading him into the apartment

"Lawrence and I got into an argument," Adam said. "His daughter's teacher called him about this afternoon, and he thought I did something."

"That's sucks,"

"I told him I didn't do anything, and then I split," Adam said. "Kinda wandered over here."

"He'll get over it," Violetta said. "The worst thing that'll happen is he'll kick you out. You could move back here, if that happened."

Adam ignored that, and looked around the apartment. It was exactly as Adam had remembered it. Dark colors, posters of Goth and punk bands everywhere. One of the things that had initially attracted him to Violetta was her individuality.

"So….what? You gonna go back?"

"Eventually," Adam said. "I kinda need to cool off."

"Or…y'know…you couldn't," Violetta said, stepping up close to him. She put her hands up to Adam's front and began to massage his chest. "You could stay here tonight."

Adam bristled under the touch and quickly pulled away. "No, I couldn't." he said, very scared about where this was going and wondered why the hell he came here in the first place.

"Sure you could," she purred. "I could calm you down."  
She then leaned over and kissed him, slipping her tongue into his mouth. Adam was so surprised he felt himself return the kiss. Without realizing what he was doing, Adam put his hands on her. He pulled away in a panic as they caressed over a pair of firm breasts.

"Nonono, fuck no, I can't!" he yelled, disgusted with himself. He could taste lipstick on his mouth.

"Why not?" Violetta asked. She came up to Adam, undid his jeans, put a hand down his front, and grasped him. Her hand caused Adam's breath to catch in his throat.

"Oh, God," he croaked. Her hand began to massage him, and his eyes fluttered in pleasure. Violetta had none of the gentleness Lawrence did when he stimulated Adam, but she had the same effect nonetheless.

Lawrence…

"No, I can't!" Adam said. Despite his words, he couldn't pull away.

Violetta grinned at him, and shoved him onto the couch. Straddling him, she caught his mouth in another kiss, and began to kiss down his throat, one hand tending his swelling erection

"No…Lawrence…" he moaned.

Suddenly, the kisses and the hand stopped. Adam looked up at Violetta and saw her frowning.

"Lawrence? What the hell does your roommate have to do with anything? He's not gonna care if you spend the night somewhere else."

"He'll care," Adam said.

"Come on, it's not like you two are gay for….oh, my God," she said, comprehending.

Adam gave a "I tried to tell you" smile. To his relief, she got off him.

"You're….you're gay?" she asked. "You're fucking a guy?"

_It's Mom and Dad all over again_.

"Yeah, pretty much," Adam said bluntly.

"How long have you been this way?"

"Since Jigsaw,"

"Lawrence…Lawrence Gordon…" Violetta murmured. "Wait….i-is he the guy you were trapped with?"

"That'd be him."

"You're having sex with the guy you were trapped with?" she asked.

"Again, yeah,"

"But why?"

"Larry and I….well, we went through a lot together," Adam said. "I can't really explain it, but there's something between us. It's been there since the Bathroom."

"I didn't ask how, I asked why."

"Huh?"

"_Why_ are you with this guy?" Violetta asked.

"Because I love him. And he loves me."

"But what can you possibly give him?" Violetta asked seriously. "What do you have to offer him? He's a rich doctor with a daughter. You're a freelance photographer who barely knows what a family is."

"But-"

"Adam, you don't belong with him," she said. She looked into his eyes. "You're beneath him. You always have been and always will be. You belong here…with me. No one understands you like me."

She gently kissed him, and slid her hand under his jeans. She rubbed in all the right places, and soon, the familiar warmth spread throughout his lower region, and Adam felt himself come.

Dazed, Adam watched her peel her shirt and bra off, revealing perfect breasts.

"You belong with me," she said again.

Giving into the urge, Adam sat up and pressed his mouth to hers, probing her tongue with his. Breaking the kiss, Violetta stood up, pulled Adam to his feet, and peeled off his shirt. Adam shoved her back to the bedroom, and more gently laid her down on the bed.

He had a very vague idea as to why he was doing this, touching and kissing someone who wasn't Lawrence.

Part of it was his comfort at being in a place that was familiar, much as he had hated it.

The other part knew that Violetta was right. What she had said had been haunting him since he and Lawrence had first gotten together.

He didn't deserve Lawrence, Larry didn't deserve him. Larry deserved someone better, someone who could give him what he needed, not some pathetic overgrown kid.

Adam pulled away from the kiss and slipped off Violetta's pants, letting them drop to the floor. He leaned down and began kissing her stomach, up between her breasts and along her throat. He sent a shaky hand down into her underwear. It had been so long since he'd been with a woman, he almost started when he noticed a very clear absence in her underwear.

Violetta began to moan as he stimulated her. Adam kissed along her face, down her neck, and onto her shoulder. He began to fondle her breasts with his free hand. Kissing down onto them, he felt, for a second time, the clear difference between her and Lawrence.

Adam felt Violetta's body stiffen as she came, bucking against his hand. Grinning at him, Violetta pulled him into a kiss.

"Fuck me," she whispered.

Breaking away from the kiss, he went downward and pulled her underwear off, along with his own. Flipping her onto her stomach, Adam entered her from behind. He didn't want to look at her while he was doing it. He knew full well that he should've been with Lawrence then, not her. He began to move inside her, imagining it was Lawrence who he was pleasing right now.

"Oh, God, Adam…." She moaned with each of his thrusts. Soon he felt the same heat from not too long along ago build up inside him, and came inside her. She hit orgasm seconds later.

_Thank God it was quick, _Adam thought.

Adam collapsed on top of her.

Soon after, she curled up in his arms, and fell asleep.

He remembered that Violetta was a heavy sleeper. He waited a good twenty minutes before trusting himself to move.

When he felt it was safe, he went into the bathroom and threw up.

_What the fuck have I done?_


	14. The Next Morning

The next morning, Adam awoke to find himself on Violetta's couch, the heavy aftertaste of vomit in his mouth.

The wave of nausea hit him again as he remembered the night before.

He made a beeline for the bathroom.

Minutes later, Adam washed his face in the sink and looked at his reflection.

_You fucker, what have you done?_

_ I made Lawrence happy._

_ How is fucking an ex-girlfriend making him happy?_

_ I'm breaking it off with him today. I can't live with this and be with him at the same time._

_ So you're a coward._

_ No! Vi was right. He doesn't deserve me. If I break it off with him, he can go back to Ally and Diana and have a normal, happy life. _

_But he wants _you_. He wasn't happy with Ally, he is with you._

_ Oh, God, what have I done?_

For the third time, Adam greeted the toilet bowl.

After rinsing his mouth, Adam crept into the bedroom and retrieved his clothes.

"Hey, lover,"

Adam looked up and saw that Violetta was awake. She lay in the bed, the sheets strategically covering her lower region.

"Morning," Adam said. Something in Violetta's words stirred something in his memory.

"Last night was…amazing," she said.

"Glad it was good for you," Adam said, pulling on his jeans.

"Where're you going?" she asked.

"Home,"

"Back to him?" she asked. "But remember what I said?"

"Yes," Adam said. "Vividly."

"So, just forget him," she said. "Stay here today."

She sat up and inched over to him, the sheets dropping. Adam looked away from her. Violetta stopped and scowled at him.

"Oh, sure," she snapped. "Hide your blushing eyes, as though last night meant nothing."

"It did," Adam said coldly. "Mean nothing. Last night was a mistake. A big fucking mistake."

"I certainly remember you giving it your all," she snapped.

"I did," Adam admitted. "But I was upset. And confused. But I realized one thing: Lawrence is happy with me, and I'm happy with him. No, I always knew that, I just needed fucking you to help me to really realize it." He gave her a snide smile.

"You're just a booty call to him,"

"Look who's talking."

Violetta scowled more heavily at him. "Get the fuck out."

"Gladly."

Adam grabbed his shoes and quickly left the room.

He needed to talk to Lawrence.

Violetta remained in bed, scowling as she heard Adam slam the apartment door.

The stupid motherfucker. He used her. She comforted him after his stupid little fight with his faggot lover, and he _used _her.

Well, that's the last time she'd have anything to do with Adam James Faulkner.

_The stupid cocksucking asshole._

With an irritated groan, she got up, letting the sheet drop down on the bed.

She went over to her closet and pulled it open.

She didn't realize it was occupied until it was too late. She didn't even have time to scream.

She just gasped as something charged out of the closet and pressed a damp rag to her mouth.

As she passed out, she caught a few things about her attacker.

Black eyes. Stringy hair.

A pig's snout.

_But that's impossible._

And then….blackness.


	15. Heartache

After leaving Violetta's, Adam wandered around town, putting off going home. Despite his hasty retreat from Violetta's apartment, he did not want to go home.

He did not want to tell Lawrence what he did.

He felt he'd rather be shot in the shoulder a thousand more times than have to tell Lawrence he had sex with someone else.

_Coward._

And who was _she _to be all happy, when she knew full well that he was taken, when he was involved with someone? Who the fuck would do that? Who would be so happy at the prospect of a destroyed relationship, as long as they got what they wanted.

_You did. You were._

Adam went pale. He suddenly knew why Violetta's greeting was so familiar to him.

He had said the exact same thing to Lawrence the morning after their first time together.

He had been so happy to have been with Lawrence, and hadn't given a thought to Allison and Diana, to the fact that he was destroying a family.

Oh, God was _this_ how Lawrence felt after their night together? Had Lawrence been full of these regretful feelings? Had he been dreading telling Ally for fear that their marriage would be ruined?

No.

Lawrence had told Adam that he wanted to be with him, and had wanted him since they were rescued. He wouldn't say that unless he meant it.

Would he?

What if Vi had been right? What if Adam really was nothing more than a form of comfort for Lawrence, while he got over the whole Jigsaw incident? Some bliss to enjoy, to take his mind off of the Bathroom, until he could face his old life and go back to normal, to who he was before? Of course, he would think that Adam felt the same way towards him.

Oh, God, did he think that about Lawrence? Was Larry nothing more than a security blanket to him? Something to keep around until he felt ready to go back to the way he was before?

_No_.

They had been lovers for almost seven months. If Adam's musings were right, they would have separated long ago.

_Healing takes time._

Adam shook his head.

Lawrence was much, much more than just a security blanket.

He was the first and only person Adam had ever been in love with.

And now, because of one stupid mistake and one manipulative bitch, all of that was going to go down the drain, like the key to a padlock.

Adam looked up.

Their apartment building stood in front of him.

_Here goes nothing._

Minutes later, Adam cautiously approached the door to the apartment. He put his ear close to the wood, listening.

Silence.

Lawrence had probably gone to work.

Perfect. That would give him a day to think of what he would say.

Adam unlocked the door and went inside.

He looked up and saw Lawrence sitting at the table.

Carefully averting Larry's eyes, Adam shut the door.

He looked up. He and Lawrence locked eyes.

Lawrence stood up and in about three steps went over to Adam.

He grabbed his face and pressed his lips to Adam's.

Adam was too surprised to do anything but kiss back.

Burning with guilt, he put his hands to Lawrence's face and put more passion into the kiss.

Panting, Larry pulled off and pressed his forehead to Adam's.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Lare-"

"I'm so so sorry," Lawrence said. "It's my fault, I know you wouldn't do anything to hurt Diana."

"I-"

Lawrence pressed his lips all over Adam's face apologetically and pulled him into a hug.

"Oh, God, I'm sorry," Larry said. "I've been so busy at work and I haven't seen Diana as much as I should and I blamed you-"

"Don't worry about that, but Lare, I have to tell you something."

"I love you, too,"

Adam's heart broke. All of his musings and suspicions from before vanished.

Lawrence pulled out of the hug and smiled at Adam. Tears came to Adam's eyes, and he suddenly felt very sick.

"I had sex with Vi," he blurted out.

Larry's smiled faded, and he stared at Adam. He blinked and then smiled again.

"Of course you did, you guys were a couple, right?"

Adam was very confused, and shook his head, realizing Larry thought he was referring to the past.

"No," he said. "Last night. I had sex with Violetta."

It seemed to take Lawrence a millennium to comprehend Adam's words. He went very pale and took a step back.

"What?"

"I had sex with Violetta. Last night. After I left."

"You had….with your…." He stammered. He looked at Adam, and Adam saw the hurt in his eyes. He shuddered and looked away, thinking he would gladly have traded places with Zep Hindle right now. "Why?"

"Larry, I was…upset…and frustrated…and needed to talk to someone," Adam said, hating himself. "I went to her apartment, one thing led to another, and we…"

"You couldn't have gone somewhere else?" Lawrence asked in a choked voice. "You really found it necessary to go to an old girlfriend?"

"Oh, God, Larry, I'm so sorry, I was out of my mind,"

"I'll fucking say,"

There was a long pause.

"Do you love her?"  
"What?"

"Violetta. Do you love her?"  
"Fuck, no!" Adam cried. "I never have. I want you, not her."

"Then how could you do this?" Lawrence asked. "And don't give me that 'I was upset' crap. There has to be something deeper."

"There is, sort of," Adam braced himself and looked into the eyes he loved so much. "Larry, I think we should…you know…break this off."

There was another pause as Lawrence gaped at him.

"What?"

"Us," Adam said, wanting to cry. "I think we should end it, call it quits."

"Why?"

Adam looked at him. He had not counted on this. "What about what I did? Me and Vi? Aren't you angry?"

"Yes," Larry said. "Very. And in most situations, infidelity _is_ why a couple would split. But….Adam, I don't want us to break up. I love you so much, and if you say if it was a one-time thing, and that you don't love her, I'll believe you. We'll just have some stuff to work out."

"But Larry, that's just it," Adam said. "The stuff to work out _can't _be worked out."

"I don't understand."

"I can't fucking lose you again!" Adam yelled.

"Lose me?"

"Ever since….and since we….I just can't lose you again," Adam said. "There's so much against our relationship, so much to break us up. My parents, Ally, our differences…Jigsaw took you away from me once, I don't want some other fucking thing to do it again!"

"Are you saying that you really are so cowardly that you'd rather shy away from the odds against us than face them head on?" Lawrence asked incredulously. "You'd really rather ditch the best thing in both our lives than take the lumps that come with it? Are you so determined not to shoulder some responsibility that you'd say good-bye to the only thing that has ever made us both truly happy?"  
Adam stayed silent for a moment. "Come on, Larry, you feel the same way! You'd be a lot fucking happier to have your wife and daughter back! To have that normal life again!"

"Adam, were we stuck in the same room?" Larry asked. "I was unhappy in that old life! In my whole life, I've never been happier than I am when we're together! The only thing that would make my life perfect is if Diana could come live with us! But no life is perfect. But my life with you damn well feels that way! And if you can't see that, maybe we _should _go our separate ways!"

Complete silence. Adam took a deep breath and went for the door.

"Where are you going?" Lawrence asked.

"Maybe to Kate's," Adam said quietly. "I can stay with her until I find an apartment."

Adam pulled open the door and went out into the hall. Looking away from Lawrence, he bit his lip. Tears rolled down his cheeks.

"I'll pick up my stuff later this week,"

Wiping his eyes, Adam shut the door without another word.


	16. Latest Victim

Groggily, Violetta opened her eyes.

It took about five seconds for her to comprehend her surroundings.

She had no idea where the fuck she was. All that she knew was that she was in a dark room.

She looked around, squinting. She could see a few workbenches, some tables, all with strange, lethal-looking contraptions and what looked like mannequin heads littering the tops.

She was in some sort of workshop.

She was tied up, her arms chain to a wall.

How had she gotten here?

_The pig thing….._

Had whoever kidnapped her seen her little romp with Adam and wanted some themselves, so waited until Adam was gone and then jumped out and drugged her?

She shivered. She looked down and saw that she was still naked…except for one thing.

There was a black metal contraption set up around her lower half, like a pair of the strangest underwear she could imagine.

Could it be some sort of sex toy?

Bending over as far as she could, she studied the contraption, and realized that attached to the contraption was a long, jagged screw, pointing directly up to her vagina.

Whatever this fucking thing was, it certainly was no sex device. That screw would _hurt_.

Terrified and angry, she screamed as loudly as she could, imagining that screw going upward and causing untold amounts of damage.

Suddenly, a TV she hadn't noticed flashed on. Violetta's attention snapped to the screen.

On the monitor was what looked, to her, like a ventriloquist's dummy. Only, this one was not cute. It had a white face, stringy black hair (_Like the pig thing that attacked me_), black eyes with red pupils, and a red curlicue on each cheek.

In a low, gravelly voice, the dummy began to speak.

"_Hello, Violet. You don't know me, but I know you, very well. For years, you have flaunted your sexuality, using it to play games with poor, unsuspecting men, offering happiness in exchange for your own pleasure. _

"_Today, you will play a game with your sexuality. The device you are wearing contains a screw that will slowly but surely drill upward into the site of your pleasure. As soon as this message stops, the screw will go upwards, destroying the delicate nerves and rendering that area useless._

"_There is a way out. You must find the combination to the device. Once entered correctly, the device will stop and the screw will retract. If you don't, the screw will continue to drill upward…until it hits a vital organ. I will give you one clue as to the combination: it is the date of a loved one's funeral you missed, out of selfish shame, because your promiscuity caused the death of that loved one. Live or die, Violet. Make your choice." _

The tape clicked off. Violetta felt the entire contraption around her waist vibrate, and it began to give off a slight grinding noise. The cuffs holding her arms to the wall unlocked, and she felt her arms drop.

In terror, she looked down.

The screw was slowly making its way upward.

Violetta screamed.

Who was this fucker? How did he know her? More importantly, how did he know about her cousin?

The year before, around the time she had dumped Adam, she and her latest hook-up had come home from a party, completely drunk and fully in the moment. In the heat of the moment, Violetta had knocked a bottle of alcohol from a counter onto the floor. She hadn't known it at the time, but the bottle had cracked and booze was slowly dripping from the bottle and puddling onto the floor.

After the guy had had his way with her and left, Violetta had lit a cigarette and eventually dozed off. The cigarette had fallen into the puddle of alcohol and a fire soon spread through the house. Violetta had woken up, fled outside and called the fire department,

What she hadn't known was that her fifteen-year-old cousin, Emma, had been asleep in a back bedroom. She had wanted to surprise Violetta and had fallen asleep waiting for her.

Violetta hadn't known her cousin was there until she heard screams.

The fire department had gotten the girl out of the blaze, but Emma had died in the hospital that night of smoke inhalation and severe burns.

She had never told anyone that a bottle of booze had started the fire. The fire department had said that electrical problems had caused the fire, and Violetta went alone with this story.

On the day of Emma's funeral, Violet had gone out with a friend, clubbing. She couldn't be at the funeral or at home by herself, feeling guilty. She needed to get out.

She had met her most recent boyfriend that same day, and he helped her forget about Emma.

She had forgotten, for the most part.

Until now.

She screamed again. The grating sound from the screw suddenly seemed to grow louder.

Violetta looked down. The screw was now inches from her crotch.

Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. She was going to die.

Screaming, she began to pull at the contraption. She tried to pry it off.

It didn't move.

She felt herself slightly vibrate down there.

She didn't need to look down at to know that as if of now, her sex life was screwed, so to speak.

An immense pain erupted through her body from down there.

Violetta screamed.

The pain was similar to that she held felt the night she had lost her virginity, back when she was fifteen. Only this time, it was worse. Much worse.

Something warm flowed down her leg. Blood mixed with tissue. Puddling at her feet.

_This isn't fucking happening, _she thought. _I'm getting this motherfucker off now._

Think, girl. Think! When was Emma's funeral?

Another wave of pain went through her. So sharp.

_The pain, _her mind told her. She felt the wet of tears on her cheeks. _I can't think. The pain…_

Frantic, she tried to focus her mind. Tried to think back to the day Emma was buried.

The weather. It had been gorgeous. Humid.

Summer?

That helps. She thought as more blood puddled around her feet. Nice thinking, dumb shit.

Really humid. Definitely in the summer.

The screw went up higher. Violetta had the sudden knowledge that it was close to an organ. She thought harder.

Hadn't there been another reason for going out that day, besides guilt. Wasn't it someone's birthday?

Her boyfriend's? No, they had never celebrated a birthday together. A friend of a friend's?

Yes! A guy friend of his!

When? When was it?

As the screw hit an organ, Violetta suddenly felt sick. She retched, but forced herself to put the pieces together.

Hot weather. June, July, August, or September.

August! It had been August. Her own birthday had been a few weeks before.

Leaning down, she frantically put the combination into the contraption.

Only to realize that she had no idea what the date was.

The tape had said the date, not just month.

_Oh, fuck._

Feeling weak, Violetta dropped to the floor. As she passed out, she realized that the screw had stopped moving.


	17. Two Weeks Later

Two weeks.

Had it really been two weeks?

It had been two works since his break-up with Lawrence.

Adam lay on his sister's couch in her little apartment, trying to sleep.

It was about two in the morning.

He couldn't sleep. Not that it mattered completely. He had taken a leave of absence from work, was using up his vacation days, telling his boss that he felt burned out and needed a break for a bit.

That was true. He was burned out.

From crying. From hurting. From that constant emptiness he felt ever since he'd walked out of the apartment he shared with Lawrence.

His leave was almost up. Within the next week, he needed to find his own place and move out.

Either that, or simply quit his job altogether and mooch off of Kate.

That last choice was much more tempting.

He didn't think he could (or didn't want to) live alone.

Jigsaw was still out there.

People were still being found dead in his fucking traps, even though the news reported that he had died.

Some copycat was out there. Either that or the sick fucker had had someone working with him.

Adam shuddered uncontrollably.

For the millionth time, he expected to feel a pair of strong arms encircle his waist, warm breath against his neck, a sleepy voice whispering in his ear that everything was all right.

Grimacing, Adam's eyes filled with tears and he buried his face into the pillow.

_I love you, _said the voice.

Adam groaned aloud.

_Godfuckingdammit_. _Get out of my head, Lawrence_.

_It shouldn't be this hard._

Ending it with Larry had been the right thing to do. He knew that. He reminded himself of the reasons that he and Lawrence didn't fit.

They were complete opposites. Adam was immature and impulsive. Lawrence was more calm and collected, he thought things through first.

There was a slight age difference, fourteen years to be exact. Larry had been a freshman in high school when Adam was a baby.

Other people, like his father and Allison in particular, couldn't accept it. That had been made blatantly obvious.

They were both guys. Adam had never felt any kind of attraction to another man at any point in his life, nor had Lawrence. He felt that if any gay tendencies existed within each of them, it would have been made clear long, long ago.

Add his affair with Violetta, and those were all perfectly good reasons for the split.

_Yeah, perfectly good, __**petty**__ reasons,_ a voice told him. _Those things don't define a relationship, the connection you share does. And Adam, you've known that connection the minute he pulled you away from Zep, don't deny it. _

_As for Vi, that could be worked through, Larry said it himself._

_It doesn't matter. I wouldn't be able to take losing him again. Better if I just get it over with myself. It would hurt a lot more if something else happened. At least by doing this, I've got some control._

_Larry was right. You are a coward._

Giving his head a violent shake, Adam managed to make his conscience shut up.

No. It was time to move on.

Tomorrow, he'd check back with the various landlords he'd applied to. Despite his preference to live with Kate, he knew he couldn't do that. Not forever. He needed to grow up, be strong. Kate was having a baby and didn't need her loser brother mooching off her. She was closer to her due date than he'd originally thought, just a month or two left.

He needed to move on, from Lawrence, Jigsaw and everything connected to them.

The first step was taken. He and Lawrence were over.

What's done is done.


	18. His Fault

Lawrence sat in the hospital cafeteria, taking his break, eating his incredibly late dinner. While he ate, he studied the files of several patients who had come into his care in the past few weeks.

He didn't take in a word of it.

Looking over the print in the files, Larry thought to himself that the folders might as well be about about one thing, they might as well have shown the same word printed over and over.

_Adamadamadamadamadamadam……._

Lawrence harshly rubbed his hands over his face, took a sip of coffee, and checked his watch.

10pm.

Lawrence gave a start. Gotta get home, Adam's waiting.

No.

Lawrence sighed.

Adam wasn't home. At least, not anymore.

_Come on, _he told himself. _This is why you started working more late shifts. To get him off your mind._

_That's not gonna happen. This break-up was all my fault._

It was still hard for Larry to use that term or anything like it: break up, split, separated, over, ex.

It was all his fault.

He had driven Adam out of the apartment that night. If he hadn't attacked him about what Diana's teacher had told him, if he had just talked to him rationally, Adam wouldn't have left and had sex with that girl. Somehow she had warped his mind into thinking that Lawrence was going leave him, that he was going to lose him.

_Larry, stop blaming his ex for what happened. You understand full well why Adam left. You left him alone in the Bathroom, being left alone is his biggest fear, you know this. Of course he panicked when he thought he was going to lose you._

_His ex had something to do with it, _he argued with himself._ Adam knew how much he meant to me, how much I loved him. He's not stupid, she could've said something that sent him over the edge._

_I did this. I should have never left him alone at all._

_If you hadn't done that, where would you be now? Where would Adam be? Diana?_

_Adam and I would be rotting corpses in that hellhole. Diana would have no father._

_Still I did this. I created his biggest fear. And he was scared enough of it that he'd gotten rid of the best thing in the both of our lives, just to overcome that fear._

_It's my fault._

_Look on the bright side,_ a third voice chimed in. To Lawrence, the voice sounded a lot like the voice that spoke to him before his kidnapping. The voice of his old self.

_Without Adam, now you'll be able to take more shifts here, earn more money. Spend more time with Diana, without Allison giving you those resentful looks. You can go wherever you want and not have to worry about an almost-thirty year old who's clingy and afraid of the dark like a child. Who constantly clings to you like a leech. Who is immature, rash, and foolish._

The thought of seeing Diana more often did a little to cheer Larry up. He would love to see her more, of course, without Allison's glares. That would be wonderful.

As for the other things…

Those were some of the many reasons he loved Adam.


	19. Autopsy

Jigsaw had claimed another one.

Detective Cummings stared down at the young woman on the examining table. In her late twenties, the girl, identified as Violet Miller, had a pretty pale face, and a perfect body.

When she was alive, Cummings thought, the guys must've been crazy about her.

She had been found in the warehouse that Jigsaw reportedly worked in. A woman walking by the warehouse had heard screams from inside and had called the police.

When Cummings and back-up had arrived at the warehouse, Violet Miller was lying in a pool of her own blood.

His eyes drifted over her body. His stomach roiled when his eyes drifted over her lower body.

The damage that had been done to this girl's crotch was horrific.

The body had been wearing a sort of metal belt. When examining her, he realized that a screw thicker than all of his fingers put together had been shoved up her vagina, as far as it could go.

Cummings heard footsteps and looked up as the coroner came into the room, holding Violet's file.

"What've we got, Doc?" he asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.

"Well, you were right, Detective," the coroner said. "Miss Miller died from blood loss combined with massive organ damage. Never seen anything like it."

"Were there any drugs involved?"

"She'd been knocked out with morphine, but I didn't find any traces of any other substances in her body. This girl died long and painful."

"That sounds like Jigsaw," Cummings said bitterly. "Has to make sure his victims suffer and suffer bad. Was there anything else?"

"I did find traces of semen." the coroner replied.

"Jigsaw raped her?"

"I don't think so, but we did find a match to the semen."

"Whose was it?"

"His name's Adam Faulkner," the coroner said, open the file and picking up a piece of paper. "Twenty-nine years old." His previous address shows that he used to live in Violet's apartment building."

"Faulkner?" Cummings asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Is he familiar?"

"Yeah, he's one of Jigsaw's surviving victims," Cummings said, frowning. "Pulled him out of Jigsaw's trap myself. The guy had been there for awhile, was in really bad shape, would've starved to death if we hadn't gotten to him." He paused. "Are you sure it's Faulkner's?"

"DNA doesn't lie," the coroner said. "What are you thinking?"

"Nothing," Cummings said. He made for the door. "I'm gonna hunt Faulkner down."

"Do you think he was somehow involved?"

"I don't know," Cummings replied, shaking his head. "Could be. He'd had sex with her right before she was killed, he might've seen something, heard something. I'm gonna go check him out, see what's what."


	20. Possible Suspect

In his new apartment, Adam and Kate sat on his beaten-up sofa, eating dinner. More accurately, Kate was eating and Adam was just pushing his food around his plate.

It had been a hard day.

He'd moved into his apartment a few days before.

He had been right. Living by himself was too much to handle.

His first night there, he'd had a dream so vivid that he'd woken up, wheezing from his asthma.

It had taken awhile for the attack to go away.

It was the first time that that had happened when Lawrence was not there. Lawrence was not there to calm Adam with soothing words, hugs, touches.

Upon waking, he expected to feel Lawrence's hands on him, comforting him, and had almost panicked when he realized he was alone.

Adam had not slept for the rest of the night. He looked like hell when he went to work the next day.

Kate had come over a few hours earlier to keep him company. She'd been doing that a lot since he'd moved out. He figured that she was just as lonely as he was, but Adam made sure that he kept up a more positive attitude. He didn't want her to worry about him; she had enough to worry about. The baby was due within weeks, and Kate really didn't have any support from the father, and only a little from their parents.

"Adam?" she asked now.

"Hmm?" He yawned.

"Are you OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said. He gave her a smile.

"You're not eating."

"Wow, the whole mother thing's kicked in already," Adam said. He grinned. "I guess I'm good practice."

"I'm serious, Adam," Kate said. She looked into his eyes. "You're pale, tired. You've been losing weight lately."

"It's just a little nerve-wracking living by myself right now,"

She eyed him. "How're you…dealing with it? With what happened?"

Adam knew what she was talking about, but was determined to side-step the subject. He set his plate on the coffee table and then leaned back.

"Ah, well, y'know," Adam said casually. "Work, work helps not to think about it. I mean, I still have nightmares, which sucks, but-"

"That's not what I mean," Kate said. "I'm talking about…Lawrence."

Adam sighed. Kate had not been pressuring him or nagging him about his break-up with Lawrence, for which he was grateful; in fact, Lawrence's name had only been mentioned by her about two or three times since he'd moved in.

But here it was. In the weeks that Adam and Kate had been living together, they'd become closer, and Adam realized Kate was more observant than he'd thought.

"Ah, well, getting through," Adam said quietly. "Can't complain really. It hurts, but it was the right thing to do."

"Was it?"

"Yeah," Adam said. "Why?"

Kate continued to look into his eyes, not looking away or even blinking.

Adam sighed. He couldn't lie to her.

"OK, fine," Adam said with a bit of an edge to his voice. "Wanna know the truth? Yeah, it hurts. Badly. I'd take the gunshot wound over this shit any day. But I had to do it."

"Yeah?"

"Kate, you know why I did it. Larry and I couldn't work. What kind of future could two guys have? What were we gonna do, get married? It had to end somewhere."

"I don't really see why it had to."

"We're just too different from each other. Besides, you saw Dad's reaction when I told him about us."

Kate smirked a bit. "Since when have you cared what Dad thought?"  
Adam gave a small smile. "Yeah," He sighed. "You know what? Fuck it. Yeah, I miss him, I still love him, but it was the right thing to do."

"You keep saying that. How do you know it was the right thing?"

"Come on, look at us. We were too different-"

"Yeah, you've said that," Kate said. Adam looked at her. "Come on, it's me. You went up against Dad, declaring your love for this guy. When you told me about him, you…well, let's just say that I got a vibe from you that this was the real thing for you. You don't tell Dad off for just anyone. You never did it with any of your old girlfriends."

"Yeah, I love him," Adam admitted. "He is different than anyone I've ever been with, for less obvious reasons. I mean, Christ, I thought I loved Violetta when I was with her, but Lawrence…he just makes me forget about every shitty thing that's ever happened in my life. He saved my ass in that Bathroom and helped me keep my mind after that fucker shut me in there."

"But-?"

"I don't know," Adam said with a sigh. "I just kept getting this vibe that-"

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Adam raised an eyebrow at his sister.

"You expecting someone?" Kate asked him.

"No,"

Adam got up and went to the door. Looking through the peephole, he saw an official, stern-looking man in the hallway. After looking back at Kate with a frown, he pulled the door.

"Adam Faulkner?" the man asked.

"Uh, yeah," Adam said. "Can I help you, man?"

"I'm Detective Will Cummings, we've met before."

"We have?"

"Yes, a few months ago," Cummings said. "When you were rescued."

"Oh, yeah," Adam said quickly, not wanting to get anywhere near that subject with this guy. "What's up?"

"Do you know Violet Miller?"

"Uh, yeah," Adam said. "She's my ex. Why?"

"I need you come with me, down to the station."

"What's going on?" Kate asked, coming over.

"Yeah, that's what I wanna know."

"Ms. Miller was found dead in a warehouse yesterday," Cummings said grimly. "We found your DNA on her body, we just need to come down to the station and answers some questions."

Adam's breath caught in his throat. "Did you say 'dead'?"

"Yeah," Cummings said. "We've found your DNA on her body. We need you to come down to the station and answer some questions, if you don't mind."

"Um, yeah, yeah, sure," Adam said. He looked at Kate.

"Should I come or-?" she asked.

"Maybe it's better you not, ma'am," Cummings said, glancing at Kate's bulging belly. "It's not for the faint of heart."


	21. Morgue

Minutes later, Adam found himself at the hospital.

The one where Lawrence worked.

He prayed that he wouldn't see him. What would Lawrence think if he saw him with a cop? He could only imagine what he would think.

"Detective, where are we going?" Adam asked.

"To a place I've been to too many times, lately," Cummings said.

Soon, Adam found himself in front of a door labeled MORGUE.

Adam shuddered. Cummings sensed the shudder and eyed him grimly. He then pushed the door open and motioned for Adam to follow him.

Adam, arms around himself, entered the room and shivered.

He had never been in a morgue, but it looked exactly as he expected it to, the way they did on TV.

A cold metal room.

Everything sterilyzed.

Metal drawers within the walls.

Cummings went to the back of the room and stood by a drawer. Swallowing hard, Adam followed him.

He knew who was in there, and he did not want to see her. He'd seen enough death to last him a lifetime.

If Lawrence were with him, maybe he would've been able to be in here.

Maybe.

With a flutter in his stomach, a thought occurred to him.

If it wasn't for Lawrence, you'd be in one of these drawers right now. Because of him, you're not.

"You OK?" Cummings asked.

"Yeah, yeah," Adam said with another shudder. "Just fine, bad memories."

He went over to Cummings and stood next to him.

"OK, brace yourself," Cummings said. "I told your sister, you gotta have a pretty strong stomach to see this."

Adam swallowed and nodded. Whatever he was about to see, he was ready. He'd seen a guy with his head splattered across the floor, had blood and brain tissue covering his hands and arms, had watched a man cut off his own foot.

Nothing could be worse.

Adam closed his eyes, and Cummings pulled the drawer open.

Cracking his eyes open, Adam looked down and saw a thin frame beneath a white sheet.

"Do you know this woman?" Cummings asked.

He pulled the sheet down.

Bile came up to Adam's throat when he saw Violetta's pale face, the face that he had last seen scowling at him as he left her apartment.

"Is this Violet Miller?" asked Cummings after awhile.

Biting his lip, Adam nodded. "Yeah,…yeah, that's her." He looked up at Cummings. "What happened to her?"

"I'll explain everything at the station,"

Cummings covered Violetta up and gently pushed the drawer back into the wall.

"We think she's Jigsaw's latest."

"Latest?" Adam asked, eyes wide. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? I thought the old fucker was dead!"

"Dead?" Cummings asked.

"Yeah, we saw on the news that-"

"You saw this on TV?" Cummings stepped up close to Adam, eyeing him.

"Yeah, we-" Suddenly. Adam went quiet. He'd suddenly remembered that the only people who knew of Jigsaw's identity were him and Lawrence.

"Yeah?"

"Nothing," Adam said. He shook his head. "Nothing. Wishful thinking, that's all."

Cummings continued to eye him. "Huh. All right, let's go. We'll talk about this more at the station."


	22. Interrogation

Two hours later, Adam found himself in - again - a windowless police station interrogation room. Cummings and another detective had been questioning him about Violetta and his own experience with Jigsaw.

"All right," Cummings said. "So you're saying you have no idea what happened to your girlfriend after you left her apartment?"

"Ex," Adam said. "And no, I don't. How the fuck do you know for sure Jigsaw even killed her? This could've been anybody, right?"

The two cops looked at each other, and Cummings nodded. The unnamed one, who had been standing while Cummings had sat across from Adam, plucked a few pages from a file he held and tossed them down onto the table, right in front of Adam.

They were photos. Frowning, Adam leaned over and spread them apart. They were all black and white, all a little grainy.

But it was Violetta in them. And she was wearing a belt of some sort.

One shot was a close-up her bare belly. There, right next to the tattoo that she had gotten right after she and Adam started going out, a chunk of her skin, shaped like a puzzle piece, had been carved out of her.

Adam's eyes drifted over to one of the last ones in the stack. It showed a full view of Violetta on an autopsy table. Looking over her body, he noticed nothing unusual until his eyes looked downward.

Her crotch was mutilated, torn up, utterly destroyed.

Bile crept into Adam's throat. He swallowed hard.

"What the fuck happened to her?" he asked.

"That belt that she was wearing was rigged with a screw that would go up into her cootch unless she put in a correct combination in that lock. Looks like she tried to do it, but she ran out of time. We also found this on her."

Adam looked up and saw what Cummings held up. It was a tape recorder inside of evidence bag.

"Oh, God," Adam said in shock.

Cummings pressed the PLAY button. The voice from Adam's darkest nightmares could suddenly be heard clearly in the room.

"_Hello, Violet. You don't know me, but I know you, very well. For years, you have flaunted your sexuality, using it to play games with poor, unsuspecting men, offering happiness in exchange for your own pleasure. _

"_Today, you will play a game with your sexuality. The device you are wearing contains a screw that will slowly but surely drill upward into the site of your pleasure. As soon as this message stops, the screw will go upwards, destroying the delicate nerves and rendering that area useless._

"_There is a way out. You must find the combination to the device. Once entered correctly, the device will stop and the screw will retract. If you don't, the screw will continue to drill upward…until it hits a vital organ. I will give you one clue as to the combination: it is the date of a loved one's funeral you missed, out of selfish shame, because your promiscuity caused the death of that loved one. Live or die, Violet. Make your choice." _

By the time the tape ended, Adam was shivering. He wrapped his arms around himself to stop it. It didn't work.

Jigsaw was still alive. That was his voice, all right. There was no mistaking it. He'd heard it in the Bathroom, had heard in so many times in his dreams.

But there was always someone there with him, telling him everything was all right.

And now he'd heard the madman yet again, just when Adam thought he could finally get rid of him.

But Lawrence wasn't here with him.

_God, Lawrence, I need you here with me. I can't do this by myself._

"Voice sound familiar?" the unnamed cop asked.

"Oh, yeah," Adam mumbled. "It's fucking him, all right."

"So, Adam, go over it again," Cummings said. "What happened the last night you saw her?"

Adam looked up at him. "I told you everything. We had a fling, I left the next morning."

"So you didn't see anyone unusual in the apartment? Maybe you saw someone strange in the building? Maybe you heard her scream or some struggling?"

"No, I didn't hear anything."

"Why had you gone to her apartment? You told us you guys hadn't ended things on the best of terms."

"It-it was a bad day," Adam said. "I needed someone to talk to."

"So you two were close after the break-up? You guys still talked?"

Adam shook his head. "Not much. I had a bad day, I needed to calm down, and she was the only person close by that I really knew."

"And where did you go after that?"

"I went home," Adam said.

"Not to the apartment where you're living now?"

"No," Adam looked up at Cummings, frowning.. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, we just think it's a little odd that you sleep with this girl, you're the last person to see her alive, and then you're living in another town."

"So what? I moved to that town to get a fresh start. Everywhere I go in this town reminds me of Jigsaw. I just want to move on."

"Right," Cummings said. "Did you talk to anyone about moving? Did anyone know that you were planning on getting out of there?"

"Yeah," Adam said. "Yeah, someone knew."

"What's his name?"

"I can't say."

"Why not?"

"I don't want him to get involved with this." Adam said. "He doesn't deserve to."

"Well, I think you should tell me the name, he's the closest thing to an alibi you've got."

"An alibi?" Adam said.

"Yeah, just to clear your name," Cummings said.

"You think I fucking did this?"

"We never said that," Cummings said. "We just need to clear any _possible_ suspects."

"So I'm a _possible_ suspect?"

"You won't be considered a suspect unless we get the name of the person who talked to you after you left Violet's apartment."

"I was with my boyfriend, OK?" Adam shouted.

The detectives each raised an eyebrow. Adam himself was shocked.

Boyfriend.

Lawrence had been many things to him. His roommate, his friend, his lover, his lifesaver.

His god.

The word "boyfriend" had never crossed Adam's mind.

In the months that they were together, Adam had never used the word "boyfriend" describe what Lawrence was to him, to describe his relationship with Lawrence.

It was just too common a word for such a person., such a relationship. It didn't fit.

"Your boyfriend?" Cummings asked.

"Yeah, fuck it, I'm a fag, all right?" Adam shouted. "I've fucked a guy, OK?"

"Look, man, no one's judging, that's your business," the unnamed detective said calmly.

"What's his name?" Cummings asked again.

Adam stayed silent. "I really don't want him to get into this."

"What's his name?"

_I can't do this, Lawrence is not getting mixed up in this. _

_So what are you going to do? They think you're an accomplice of Jigsaw. Tell them about Lawrence and you'll be cleared._

_I can't do that. It's not his problem. Besides, he'd give me to the cops._

_Why the fuck would he do that?_

_I broke his heart. Payback's a bitch._

_You are so stupid, Adam. You've known Lawrence for going on a year now, and you think he'd do something that petty? _

_He's done enough for me, and now we're over. He's not gonna help me here._

_He loves you. He'll help you._

_Does he? Does he still?_

_You know the answer to that._

Adam took a deep breath and look up at the cops.

"Fine, I'll give you his name. But can I make a call first? I want to talk to him before you guys do."


	23. First Time In A Long Time

Lawrence sat in his office, dividing his time between filling out forms and writing a paper describing the case of one individual's battle with leukemia and their reactions to the treatment being administered to them.

This time, his concentration was more focused, but it hurt no less.

If anything, his heartache had intensified.

Adam had found an apartment a couple towns away.

Through hospital records, he'd managed to get hold of Adam's sister. He had just wanted to check up on Adam, and she had told him he had moved out.

He wondered how Adam was doing, living alone.

Not too well. He knew that in his heart.

Lawrence wasn't doing too well himself, living by himself. He found that immersing himself in his work helped ease the pain, just a little. He was careful not to immerse himself fully, however.

His routine had become a steady pace of work during the day, Diana every afternoon, and then home at night.

Since Adam had left, the apartment had turned into a big, empty box, memories of Adam's presence constantly there, with masked, robed figures lurking wherever Adam didn't.

Larry had considered moving to another apartment, but for him, doing that would be the same as admitting his relationship was really over, a reality he just wasn't ready to face.

His intercom suddenly beeped.

He pressed a button on it and spoke to his secretary.

"Yes, Ellen?"

"Phone call, Dr. Gordon. Line three."

"Thanks,"

Lawrence pressed another button.

"Hello, Dr. Lawrence Gordon, how may I help you?" he asked in his most professional voice.

"Larry?" said a tiny voice on the other end.

Lawrence recognized it immediately.

"Adam?" Larry's heart jumped. "Um, hi, how're you doing? Are you OK?"

"Um, not really."

Lawrence blanched. "Why? What's up?" A million scenarios ran through his head: Adam was in the hospital. A family member had died. He'd been in a car accident.

Worst of all, he was in Jigsaw's clutches again.

"I'm at the police station," Adam said in a shaky voice.

"Why?"

"Vi was found, dead," Adam said. "They found my DNA on her from, um, that night. They think I had something to do with it. Her murder. But I-I-I didn't. It was a Jigsaw trap, I know it was, she was all torn up-"

"OK, OK, Adam, calm down-"  
"You're the only alibi I have-"

"It's OK, just breathe. I'll be right there."


	24. Lawrence, I need you

No.

That's not how the conversation would go.

It was way too casual.

Wasn't it?

Shouldn't it be more formal or something?

Adam stood in the police station, cradling the pay phone to his ear. The unnamed detective stood nearby, far enough to give Adam personal space, but close enough so that he could hear the conversation.

Swallowing hard, Adam forced himself to drop the quarter into the slot. He dialed Larry's office number with shaky fingers.

The other end began to ring.

One ring.

Two rings.

Three-

"Hello, Dr. Gordon's office,"

A woman's voice.

Larry's secretary, Ellen.

"Um, yeah, h-hi," Adam fumbled. "I want to talk to Law-I-I-mean Dr-Dr. Gordon."

"Are you a patient, sir?"

_What does that matter, stupid bitch? I'm in hot water here!_

"Um, no, I'm a friend," Adam stumbled. "My name's Adam."

"I'm sorry, sir," Ellen said calmly. "But Dr. Gordon is very busy at the moment. Can I take a message?"

Adam almost laughed out loud, thinking about what that message would say: _Adam called from police station, 7:30 pm, didn't seem like an emergency, he was just panicking._

Adam closed his eyes, fighting back a sharp retort.

"Look, this is a real emergency," he said, trying not to shout. "I really really need to talk to him. Could you please just track him down? Tell him that Adam's calling and that I need to talk to him."

_Lawrence! Lawrence, get up! I need you…_

A sigh on the other end. "Please hold, sir."

The phone clicked. Adam waited, listening to the hum of the phone line.

He imagined what he would say to Larry if -when- he got on the phone.

"_Hi, it's me,"_

"_Adam? What the hell do you want?"_

"_I'm at the police station, Jigsaw killed Violetta, they think I did something!"_

"_And you're calling me why?"_

"_I need your help. Please, you're my only hope."_

"_Go to hell, Adam. You hurt me, payback's a bitch."_

_Click._

"Lawrence Gordon speaking."

As soon as Adam heard that voice, that hopeful, calming feeling swept through him. For the first time in a month or so, Adam felt truly at ease.

"Larry?"

"Adam?" The voice dropped its professional tone.

"Yeah, it's me,"

"Um, w-what's up? How are you?" Larry asked nervously. Adam was a little surprised that he did not sound more peeved. Larry hated to be called while he was at work. He had told Adam not long after they'd gotten together not to call him unless it was an emergency.

_Well, dumb shit, what do call this? A pressing problem that can wait till later?_ Adam raved at himself.

"I'm fine," Adam said. (_There, the biggest lie of my life has just been told_) He paused, and glanced at the detective, who was watching him carefully. "You know what? Fuck it, I'm not fine. I'm not fine at all."

"Adam? What's going on?" Lawrence, concern clear in his voice. Adam could picture him frowning.

"I'm at the cop station," Adam said, trying his damndest to control his wavering voice. "I was-"

"The police station?" Lawrence interrupted. "What happened? Are you OK?"

"N-no, I'm not OK, I mean, yeah, I'm OK, but not really OK-OK, know what I mean?"

"All right, all right, baby, take deep breaths,"

Brief silence. Lawrence had called him "baby" once before, but Adam hadn't liked it. It made it seem that they really were a gay couple. He'd never considered themselves gay. Just two guys who had fallen in love, like that movie about the two cowboys.

Right now, the pet name actually did make him calmer.

No, it wasn't the name. It was the person who was using it.

"Sorry," Larry said. "I shouldn't've-

"Don't worry about it," Adam said quickly. "It's fine."

More silence.

"Um, anyway, what happened? Why are you at the station?" Larry asked, awkwardly clearing his throat.

"J-Jigsaw happened," Adam said.

"What? Oh, God, Adam, are you OK? He didn't hurt you or-"

Some of Adam's panic came back when he heard the panic and worry in Larry's voice.

"N-no! Don't worry, I'm fine," Adam said. "The old fucker didn't do anything to me-I mean, not since…you know…- It was Vi he hurt. The cops found Vi in his warehouse."

"Found? Found as in-?" Larry asked, knowing the answer but not wanting to hear it.

"Dead, yeah," Adam said. "They brought me down here because I was the last one to see her alive, and they think I might've had something to do with her death, and you're my only alibi and…."

"Baby, calm down," Lawrence said, mentally kicking himself for using the name again. Adam didn't seem to mind this second slip, though.

"Fuck, I need you down here…"

"I'm on my way. Just-"

Click. Dial tone.

Baffled, Adam stared at the phone and shortly realized that his quarter ran out.

"Shit," Adam said. He bit his lip and hung up the phone.

"He coming?" the detective asked.

"Yeah, he-he said he'd come down." Adam said.

Some of the panic he had been feeling had gone away.

Just some.

Lawrence was going to help him. He didn't grudge Adam, didn't hate him.

Best of all, or maybe worst of all, he'd be seeing Larry again, for the first time in weeks.


	25. Help Arrives

Out in the hall, Cummings watched Faulkner get off the phone and quietly whisper something to Detective Reid. Reid nodded his head, gestured at Faulkner, and the two of them came back to where Cummings was standing.

"All right, go on in there," Reid said to Faulkner, pointing to the interrogation room. "We'll talk to your guy and then came back to you."

Faulkner bit his lip and walked back into the room. The two cops watched as the young man sat down at the table, wrapping his arms around himself.

"So, do you think Faulkner did it, Reid?" Cummings muttered to his partner.

"Nope," Reid said. "You saw the guy's reaction when we played the victim's tape. He was scared." "Uh-huh," Cummings said, watching Adam carefully. Inwardly, he rolled his eyes at Reid's naivety. He had only been on the force for about a year., and had only been assigned to the Jigsaw case recently.

"Do you think he did it?" Reid asked, perplexed.

"I don't know," Cummings said, strained. "I mean, his DNA's on the victim's body, he moves to another town at the same time she's killed. What am I supposed to think? Or at least suspect?"

"We won't know much else until this alibi of his gets here," Reid said.

"Yeah," Cummings said. "Until then, we don't have any other-"

He suddenly broke off, frowning as though he remembered something.  
"Will?" asked Reid.

"Faulkner said something at the morgue, when he saw the victim," Cummings said. "He said something about 'the old fucker being dead.'"

"He knows who Jigsaw is? I mean, the guy's identity?"

"He just said it was wishful thinking on his part when I asked him about it,"

"Huh,"

Just then, the two detectives heard a commotion from the front of the station. They hurried to the front desk and saw a blonde man, his back to Cummings, questioning the cop at the front desk.

"What the hell's going on? Are they pressing charges?"

"Sir, calm down, I'm not sure what's happening, just wait-"

"Look, I just got a call from him saying he was here at the station, and that you were suspecting he did something to his ex, and-"

"Excuse me, sir?" Cummings broke in. "Can I help you?"

The man quickly turned around.

Cummings gaped at the visitor when he realized who it was.

"Dr. Gordon?"

He knew Dr. Gordon mainly through reputation, but also personally. He was one of the best oncologists in the city, and had even treated Cummings's father during his own bout with cancer. Thanks to him, William Cummings, Sr., had beaten his cancer and was looking forward to his grandchildren and retirement.

Dr. Gordon had also been a former suspect in the Jigsaw case, and was eventually cleared when he was discovered in the same trap Faulkner had escaped.

"Yeah," Lawrence said. "I got a call from Adam Faulkner, saying he was here and-"

"You're Faulkner's alibi?"

"Yeah," Lawrence said, going up to Cummings. "What's going on? I heard something about his ex-girlfriend, that something had happened to her. Have you charged Adam on anything or-"

"Whoa, calm down," Cummings said. "Dr, Gordon, let's go into the back, we've got some questions for you."


	26. Questioning Lawrence

When Larry had gotten the call from Adam, he had flown out his office, giving a hurried explanation to his secretary, and hurried to his car.

He had made it to the station in five minutes.

Whatever had happened between them, he couldn't leave Adam to deal with this shit on his own, especially anything Jigsaw-related.

During the drive, he hadn't realized exactly what "helping Adam" would mean.

He did now.

It meant seeing Adam again. Talking to him.

As he followed Detectives Cummings and Reid into the back of the police station, Lawrence braced himself to see Adam in every room they passed.

"In here, Doctor," Cummings said. He pointed into a room.

Looking up, Lawrence gasped. He had quickly realized that it was exactly the same room he'd been interrogated in when he was brought in for questioning about Jigsaw, back before the Bathroom.

Only this time, Adam was sitting where Amanda had sat.

Adam looked up as Lawrence and the detectives entered the room.

By God, Adam looked awful, Larry observed. His hair was disheveled, he had lost weight, and he had dark circles under his eyes, which had a sad look to them.

However, Lawrence saw that look disappear briefly when they locked eyes.

Lawrence's heart ached as he realized that Adam wouldn't look so bad if they were still together.

_It's his own fault he looks like that,_ a nasty voice said. _Who broke up with who again?_

Fuck that.

If they still been together, he would've ran in there, given Adam a few reassuring kisses, massaged his shoulders, and asked him if he was all right.

"Detective, what's going on?" Lawrence asked at the three of them sat down. "What's this all about?"

"It's like this, Doctor," Cummings said. "Does the name Violet Miller mean anything to you?"

"Well, yes," Lawrence said. "She was a patient, she was treated at my hospital about a month ago. For malnutrition."

"Did you know her on a personal basis?"

_Yes, she had sex with the person I love most in the world, after my daughter, warped his mind into thinking I was unhappy with him, and took him from me._

"I'm sorry?" he asked.

"Was she with Faulkner at any point? Intimately? While he was with you?"

Lawrence's mouth went dry. How did this man find out about him and Adam?

"How did-I mean-Adam and I-" Lawrence stuttered.

"It's OK, Doc," Reid said, handing over a cup of water. Larry took it gratefully and gulped the water down. "Faulkner told us. It's no big deal."

"So it is true, then?" Cummings asked. "You and Adam have a…more than platonic relationship?"

Lawrence bit his lip, more than willing to admit it, but hesitating all the same. "Yeah," he admitted. "Ever since the Bathroom. I can't explain it-"

"Don't worry about that," Cummings said, holding up a hand. "Could you tell us what happened that night? The night he and the victim were together?"

Lawrence winced, remembering the pain he felt when Adam had told him what he'd done. Why did this guy have to say it so bluntly?

"We'd gotten in a fight about something stupid, and he'd left."

"A fight about what?

"Us. Issues we'd been having."

"What happened after that?"

"He came back the next morning, and told me that he and Miss Miller had slept together." Larry winced again.

"When he came back, did he seem out of breath, like he'd run there? Or was there anything suspicious about him?"

"No,"

"Are you sure?"

"_Yes,_" Lawrence said vehemently.

"Has there been any moments since your rescue when Faulkner's acted suspicious?"

"No," Lawrence said. This was absurd. "Adam's been through a lot, but I promise you, officers, he didn't harm her and he's certainly no accomplice of Jigsaw."

"So you agree with his story? He was with you at the time Violet Miller was murdered?"

"Yes, of course."

Cummings frowned. "All right, Doc, I'll take your word for it."

Lawrence nodded and began to get up.

"Just one more thing, Doc?"

"Yes?" Larry asked irritably.

"You yourself were in a Jigsaw trap. With Faulkner, as a matter of fact."

"Yes?"

"Do you have any evidence that could lead us to knowing this guy's identity? Can you remember anything at all? Maybe you saw someone?"

Larry thought back to the day when he and Adam had seen the news report about John Kramer, Lynn Denlon, and Amanda Young.

He considered telling them about what Adam had said, and what Lawrence knew to be the truth.

About John Kramer being Jigsaw.

He then remembered his own words: _"No one is going to take the word of two men who were scared to death."_

Besides their testimony, there was no proof that Kramer was Jigsaw.

Jigsaw was dead.

Then who murdered this girl, Lawrence?

A copycat?

Maybe.

Copycat or not, it's clear Jigsaw's still alive. How many more people have to die before you say anything?

"No," Larry said. "The only people I remember that day were Adam and Zepp."

"Huh," Cummings frowned. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a card. "Here, Doctor, call me if you or Adam do remember anything. Thanks for coming down so fast."

"My pleasure, gentlemen." Lawrence said. He took the card and left the room.


	27. Goodbye, Lawrence

Adam had watched the entire conversation between Lawrence and the cops from where he sat.

Did Larry manage to convince them that he had nothing to do with it?

The entire time, the detectives' expressions hadn't changed.

Lawrence soon stood up and shook hands with each detective

Heart sinking, Adam watched as Larry left the room without so much as a glance back at him.

He had left without saying anything to him.

He's probably going back to the hospital, Adam thought. He probably can't get out of here fast enough

Oh, God, he had been right. Larry did grudge him. This favor that he did, coming down to help him, was going to be a one-time only deal.

After this, he'd never see Lawrence again.

They were really over.

_And you're just realizing this now? _A voice said. _That's what you wanted, right? To be rid of Jigsaw and anything connected to him._

The detectives then came into the room.

"All right, Faulkner, we checked your alibi, and it holds up," said Cummings.

"So, what does that mean?" Adam asked. "Can I go?"

"You're free to go," Cummings said, nodding. "But we're gonna tell you what we told the doctor,"

Adam braced himself.

"If you remember anyone from that trap besides Dr. Gordon and Hindle, hell, if you remember anything at all, let us know." Cummings held out another of his cards.

"Look, man, I told you everything I-"

"Just call us _if_ you remember anything, got it?"

"Yeah," Adam said, relenting at the sharp tone in the cop's voice. He took the card. "Yeah, I'll do that."


	28. Revelation

After he had left the room, Lawrence waited for Adam outside the police station.

He hadn't intended to say much to Adam on his way down here.

But after seeing Adam for the first time in weeks, there was no way he'd let Adam go without talking to him.

He'd ask Adam how he was holding up, ask how his job was going.

Ask how they'd ended up where they were and whether Adam would consider taking him back.

He was prepared to grovel if he needed to.

He needed Adam, and clearly, Adam needed him.

He heard the door of the building slam shut, and Lawrence turned around.

Adam stood on the steps, looking at him as though he couldn't believe he was still here.

Brief silence.

"Um…hey," Adam said, clearly nervous.

"Hi," Larry said.

"H-hey, look, man, thanks for coming down," Adam said, carefully averting Larry's eyes. "I know I shouldn't have called you at work-"

"Hey, don't worry about it," Larry said. "I'm here if you need me."

He smiled. Adam felt a pang, remembering that smile and realizing just how much he missed it.

_God, Lawrence, I do need you_, Adam thought. _I need you right now. I always need you._

"Y-yeah,"

More silence.

"Um, how've you been?" Larry asked uncomfortably.

"Been good," Adam said. "Can't complain." What else could he say? _Every night I wake up screaming from a fucking dream about the fucking Bathroom, hardly able to breathe. I look like shit, I barely eat, I'm terrified to be alone at night, and I miss you so fucking much it hurts more than anything Jigsaw could ever dish out. You?_

"That's good," Larry said. _You're a terrible liar._

"How's Diana?"

"Fine, thank you," Lawrence said. "She's on the honor roll at her school, and her teacher's been telling us that it might be possible for her to skip into the fourth grade by Christmas time."

"That's awesome," Adam said, "That should be no problem, she's a smart kid."

"Yeah,"

Lawrence studied Adam. He could see the longing on his face, and suspected it showed on his own face.

"Well, I'll see you, Larry," Adam said, knowing in his heart that he would never seen Lawrence again after this.

Adam started past Larry. A voice in Lawrence's started to rave at him.

_Dammit, man, say what you know you were gonna say the minute you came here! Before he walks away!_

He swallowed.

"Hey, Adam?"

Adam stopped and turned around. "Yeah, man?"

"Um, you know, Diana really misses you."

"She does?"

"Yeah, she's been wondering where you've been, why she can't see you anymore."

"Yeah? What did you tell her?"

"What really happened. Well, what she needed to know. She doesn't understand it. And to tell you the truth, neither do I."

Adam closed his eyes and sighed.

"Look, man, I explained it to you," Adam said. "I told you why, I gave you the reason-"

"A reason that doesn't make sense," Larry said. "Seriously, what happened to us?"

"Nothing 'happened'!"

"So we're not together right now because nothing happened?'

"No, man! You know why we're over."

"No, not really."

"Dammit, Lawrence, I thought we went through this. We don't belong together!"

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, man, isn't it obvious? This relationship didn't make any fucking sense!" Adam said.

Lawrence stared at Adam and let out a bitter snort. "And you're just realizing this now?"

"What?"

"Of course our relationship makes no sense! You haven't ever seen that?"

"No, I've always known that! The minute I realized I was fucking in love with you, which was pretty much the minute you left my ass in that fucking Bathroom, I've known that!"

"So have I."

Adam stayed quiet.

"Do you think what we have makes any sense to me? Do you? You have no idea how it feels to be married, have a daughter, and realize that the one person you want to be with, the one person you've ever been truly in love with, is a man with whom you have absolutely nothing in common with? Of course it doesn't make sense."

"Then how come you never said anything?"

"Because even though it never made any sense in the obvious way, it still made sense to me! It felt right! I trusted it because it didn't make sense!"

"Let me ask you this," Adam said. "What kind of future could we have had together? Huh? I didn't see any future."

"Adam, dammit, where is all this coming from?" Lawrence asked. "Was it Violetta?"  
"No, it wasn't her!" Adam said. "This has been with me ever since we first got together."

"What do you mean?"

"All those dreams that I've had? The ones that I wake up from, screaming? They were all about you! It wasn't Jigsaw that's been haunting me. It's you!"

Lawrence stared at him.

"Me?"

"Every single fucking night, I've dreamt that you'd leave me. I couldn't take it anymore. I got it done myself before something else did it."

"What makes you think that I would leave you?" Larry asked, knowing the answer.

"You left me before,"

"I had to! If I hadn't, you and I would still be there in that room!"

"Come on, Larry, I know the truth. It's no big. I've been alone all my life. I've been unhappy all my life. It's my fate. This was gonna end no matter what. God forbid I be happy, so it's better if I just have it over with, right? I'll be seeing you, Lawrence."

Adam turned his back on Lawrence and headed down the stairs.

"You know what, Adam?"

Adam turned around and looked at Larry.

"What?"

"You told me that losing me was your biggest fear."

"Yeah?"

"My biggest fear? Losing you."

"But you've never lost me the way-"

"Haven't I? Leaving you in that room was the hardest thing I've ever done. The entire time I was crawling through that hellhole, my biggest fear was that something was gonna happen to you."

"Happen to me?"

"Yeah," Lawrence said. "That you'd bleed out, or that you'd panic and hurt yourself, or, I don't know, that maybe that Jigsaw would come after you."

"He didn't."

"He could have," Larry said. "The entire time we've been together, I've been terrified at the thought of losing you. Thank you for making my worst fucking nightmare come true."

With that, Larry went to his car, got in, and drove away, without even a glance at Adam.


	29. Sisterly Advice

The next morning, Adam cracked open his eyes.

The hangover hit him harder than the sunshine seeping through the window.

"Ugh, God," Adam moaned. He squinted his eyes shut and put his hands to his head.

The last night was a blur.

After leaving the police station, Adam had hit the nearest bar. He would've gone home, but was sure that Kate was still there and would want to hear about why a cop had dragged him down to the police station to question him about the murder of an ex-girlfriend.

He didn't want to go back Kate and show her what a wreck seeing Lawrence had made him. It would just worry her.

_And coming back dead-ass drunk didn't worry her?_

Groaning, Adam rolled over and looked at the clock.

It was eight in the morning.

With difficulty, he got up and went into the bathroom. He pulled a bottle of aspirin out the medicine cabinet and swallowed two caplets.

_How long has it been since I've this hung over? Almost a year now?_

Through the migraine, a memory came rushing back to him.

After getting rescued, there had been one night when Adam had hit the bottle hard. He had just wanted one night of sleep, without the memories or nightmares.

Lawrence had been there with him.

He had only been slightly tipsy by the time Adam had passed out, drunk.

When Adam had woke up the next morning, he'd found that Lawrence had set up a quiet atmosphere: apartment dark, coffee brewing, aspirin and water at the ready.

The fact that Lawrence had actually stayed and taken care of Adam's needs had surprised him more than anything else.

_The guy's always been looking out for you._

_And I hurt him._

It had never occurred to Adam that Larry had felt the same way he did. That that fear of loss was strong in him, too.

_I'm so fucking selfish. I never gave a thought to how he felt._

Running his hands through his hair, Adam looked at his reflection in the mirror.

_Of course, this is all my fault._

_Everything is my fucking fault._

_It was my fault Jigsaw captured us._

_My fault Lawrence lost his foot and I have this goddamned scar on my shoulder._

_My fault….for falling in love, for giving my heart completely to someone for the first time in my life….and for fucking it up._

_Goddammit, Lawrence, why did you have to find help for both of us?_

_I was nothing, I am nothing, and yet you still helped me, as though I was someone that mattered._

_I wish I died in there._

_At least then, Lawrence would be back with his family and neither of us would have to deal with any of this._

Adam looked down at the sink and noticed that there were tiny clear droplets despite the fact he hadn't turned on the faucet.

It suddenly occurred to him that in the year since he'd known Lawrence, he had cried more then than he ever had in his life.

Lawrence was the only one who had ever seen Adam at his weakest, most vulnerable point, something that he did not like people to see. Not even his own parents had seen Adam break down.

It wasn't going to happen again.

Trying to regain some composure, some dignity, Adam sniffled, wiped his eyes, and turned around, heading for the kitchen.

Upon entering the living room, the first thing he noticed was that Kate had fallen asleep on the couch.

_Goddammit, she did see me dead-ass drunk._

Not wanting to wake her, he tiptoed past her and went into the kitchen.

"Mind making me some breakfast, Adam?"

Adam jumped in surprise. He glanced back and saw Kate staring at him from the couch, her eyes cracked open.

"S-sure," Adam stuttered. "Sorry, I didn't realize you were awake."

"Of course I am," she said irritably. "You try sleeping with at least ten pounds of kid inside you."

Adam gave her a small smile. He watched as she tried to push herself into a sitting position.

"You OK?" he asked.

"I was gonna ask you that same question in about two seconds. How's that hangover?"

Adam gave a nervous laugh. He could get nothing past his sister.

"How bad was I?"

"That's not the issue," Kate groaned. "What the hell happened to you yesterday?"

"The cops just had some questions for me about Vi, just wanted to see if I could help them with their investigation." Adam said. He went into the kitchen.

"Yeah, I remember that part," Kate said. With difficulty, she heaved herself to her feet and followed him. "I guess I just didn't realize that her death was so devastating to you that you'd come back plastered."

"Yeah, well, I knew her, it just brought back bad memories."

There was a long pause. Kate arched an eyebrow. "You saw Lawrence, didn't you?"

Avoiding her eyes, Adam let out another nervous laugh and set himself to hunting down something to eat. "What makes you say that?" He pulled open a cupboard, found a box of cereal and pulled it down. "Want some cereal? I mean, it might be a little expired, don't remember when I went shopping last-"

"Don't change the subject," Kate said. She sat heavily down on a chair.

Biting his lip, Adam took his time pouring cereal into his bowl, and adding milk and sugar.

"Well?" Kate asked after awhile.

"Yeah," Adam said. "Yeah, I saw him,"

"How'd it go?"

Adam rolled his eyes and glared at her. "Is that a trick question?"

"What happened?"

"Nothing," He quickly glanced at her, and saw that she was eyeing him. Adam sighed irritably. "Fuck it, Kate, what do you want me to tell you? That seeing him was number two on my 'Worst Fucking Moments Ever' list?"

"That'd be a start,"

"Well, it's true. No, in fact, it's actually sitting right up there with 'The Bullshit That Made Me Feel This Way In the First Place.'"

"I'm sorry," Kate said. "What exactly did you say to him?"

"Huh?"

"How'd this all start yesterday?"

"What makes you think that I had anything to do with how well yesterday didn't go?" Adam said. "All that happened was we met each other outside the cop station, small talk popped up, and he suddenly asked me why we split up."

"And did you tell him?"

"Yeah!"

"You told him everything? How you guys aren't right for each other? How you make no sense together? About your dreams?"

"How did you know-"

"These walls are paper-thin, Adam," Kate said. "I've heard you at night."

Adam sighed. "What's your point?"

"You mentioned all this? Every word?"

"Yeah, yeah!"

"You're an idiot, Adam,"

Adam blinked, and raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me?"

Kate stared at her brother, shaking her head.

"You heard me."

"What the fuck do you mean by that?"

"What did Lawrence say when you told him all that?"

"He said it was all bullshit," Adam said. Appetite gone, he shoved his half-eaten cereal in the sink, cracking the bowl. "He kept saying something about how we 'made sense' to him and that he had been so scared for me when he abandoned me in that fucking Bathroom."

"And that's why you're an idiot, Adam," Kate said. "Larry disagrees with your reason, and you're too blind to see that he's completely right."

"Why does everyone keep thinking we're so great together?" Adam yelled. "We're not! He's older, has an actual job, esteem, a reputation, a wife, a kid! What the fuck do I have? A goddamned camera! And the only person who gives a shit about me is you!" "That's not true, and you know it,"

"Who else, Mom and Dad?" Adam scoffed. "Yeah, sure, they care about me. Dad disowned me because of my 'great' relationship and Mom never talks to me! I can so feel the love there!"

"I meant Lawrence," Kate said. "He risked everything to help you when you really needed it. He sacrificed so much when he realized he was in love with you. A family, a reputation. If that's not love, I don't know what is."

"I know all that!" Adam said. "That was his own damn fault! He should've just forgotten about me and gotten on with his life. God knows I would've done it if I had been him. And how would you know if we're so great for each other?"

"Adam, I may have never seen the two of you together, but from what you've told me about him, you two sound perfect for each other!"

"Well, we're not," Adam said flatly. 'Vi was right, I am beneath him."

"What did she know?"

"Pretty much everything that I already did," Adam snapped. "Kate, what's done is done, all right? Larry and I are over, nothing is ever going to bring us together again. I'm done. As soon as that kid is born, I'm outta here. Outta town. Just mind your own business and worry about your own shit."

"Fine," Kate snapped. She unsteadily stood up. "You know what? I'm the one who's done. I'm the one who's outta here. I'm trying to help you realize what you're so stupidly giving up. Wanna be miserable? Go right ahead."

She waddled over to the apartment door and wrenched it open. Before she left, she glared back at Adam. He had the sudden knowledge that she was keeping her temper in check. If it wasn't for the baby, she'd be yelling at him right now.

"Look, Kate, I'm sorry-"

"Don't," she said. "Just remember this: I thought I was in love. Look where it got me. Where did falling in love ever get you?"

"How about a crap relationship with our parents-"

_When was your relationship with your parents ever good?_

"-or nightmares every fucking night?"

_That was because of the Bathroom, not Lawrence. He actually made those dreams easier to deal with, remember?_

"Has your break-up made any of that disappear? No. You and Mom and Dad still don't get along and you still can't sleep well."

"You don't think I know that?"

"Adam, answer me this: is not having Lawrence worth being miserable?"

_No._

"I was miserable before him. I'm used to it by now."

"Did being with Larry make you happy?"

_Happier than I've ever been in my life._

"Yeah,"

"So, what's the problem?"

Adam looked down and bit his lip. "I wouldn't be able to take losing him again," he said quietly. "I'd kill myself if he went back to Allison, or decided he didn't want me anymore, or…if Jigsaw were to do something to him again."

"Does the fact that you yourself caused your biggest nightmare make it hurt less?"

"Are you kidding?" Adam looked up at her. "If it wasn't for you and the kid, I would've taken a gun and had it over with long ago."

_If it wasn't for Lawrence's support, you would've had it over with even sooner than that. He's been your lifesaver inside and outside of that Bathroom._

"No," Adam said. "But it would've hurt more if it was unexpected."

"How do you think it felt for him? You dropping the bomb like that?"

Adam thought back to the day before. He remembered the hurt in Lawrence's voice: _"Thank you for making my worst fucking nightmare come true."_

"Just think about that. I gotta go. Doctor's appointment."

Kate gave him a small smile, and left, shutting the door behind her.


End file.
